Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,563 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $871,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of 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 purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the period. Burney Co. lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after buying an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,498,000 after acquiring an additional 4,439 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 117,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,676,000 after acquiring an additional 4,681 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This trade represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, March 10th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.13.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of SHW opened at $342.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1-year low of $282.09 and a 1-year high of $400.42. The company has a market capitalization of $86.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $354.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $364.49.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 29.95%.

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.