Sherwin-Williams’ (SHW) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a $377.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $385.00.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on SHW. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $340.00 to $334.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $360.00 price objective 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $333.39.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE SHW opened at $303.74 on Wednesday. Sherwin-Williams has a twelve month low of $221.76 and a twelve month high of $348.37. 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 cap of $77.29 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.15. The firm 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.05). Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 73.74% and a net margin of 10.52%. The business had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 30.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,935,302.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,435,960 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,685,876,000 after purchasing an additional 179,274 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,146,102 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,063,957 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,291,563,000 after acquiring an additional 75,571 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% during 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 period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth $1,176,356,000. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Sherwin-Williams

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.