KeyCorp Upgrades Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) to Overweight

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) was upgraded by equities research analysts at KeyCorp from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report released on Thursday, FinViz reports. The brokerage currently has a $400.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price points to a potential upside of 31.69% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on SHW. UBS Group raised Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $317.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $377.00 price objective (down from $385.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $336.89.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $303.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.15. Sherwin-Williams has a 1 year low of $221.76 and a 1 year high of $348.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $328.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $298.77.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 73.74% and a net margin of 10.52%. Sherwin-Williams’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of Sherwin-Williams 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth about $1,176,356,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 65.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,427,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,384,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,102 shares during the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth about $432,737,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,197,952,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2,853.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 628,175 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.