Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Purchases New Shares in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SHW. FMR LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 65.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,427,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,384,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146,102 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth about $432,737,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2,853.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 650,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $202,793,000 after purchasing an additional 628,175 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 188.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 758,914 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $193,561,000 after purchasing an additional 495,668 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 49.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 985,909 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $251,456,000 after purchasing an additional 327,372 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SHW. UBS Group raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.94.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at $4,935,302.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total transaction of $586,881.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW stock opened at $309.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $328.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $221.76 and a 12 month high of $348.37.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.01. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Sherwin-Williams’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

Sherwin-Williams Company Profile

The Sherwin-Williams Company engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coating, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. It operates through three segments: Paint Stores Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group.