Unigestion Holding SA Purchases Shares of 2,400 The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $816,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SHW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,836,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,422,932,000 after acquiring an additional 138,170 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,829,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,636,679,000 after purchasing an additional 96,571 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,316,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,467,138,000 after acquiring an additional 86,268 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,359,747,000. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,171,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $738,261,000 after purchasing an additional 114,591 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $331.91 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $352.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $362.80.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $423.00 price objective (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.94.

Sherwin-Williams 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.