Van ECK Associates Corp Has $14.36 Million Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,228 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 8,718 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $14,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SHW. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after purchasing an additional 2,303 shares during the period. Burney Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 117,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,676,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $356.93 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $352.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $365.12. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a one year low of $282.09 and a one year high of $400.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.89 billion, a PE ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total value of $971,185.95. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. This represents a 28.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on SHW. Berenberg Bank raised Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.00.

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.