Fmr LLC Buys 106,093 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Fmr LLC increased its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,588,755 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 106,093 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $2,239,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at about $816,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 5,577 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,896,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 31,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,538,000 after buying an additional 14,800 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 446,366 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $151,642,000 after acquiring an additional 95,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 3,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.94.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of SHW stock opened at $331.91 on Monday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $282.09 and a 12-month high of $400.42. The company has a market capitalization of $83.48 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $352.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $362.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.