Sapient Capital LLC Takes Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,451 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Lee Financial Co bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SHW. UBS Group upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. KeyCorp raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $340.00 to $334.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $341.39.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock traded up $6.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $311.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,027,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,363. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a market cap of $78.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.19, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $327.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $301.05. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $221.76 and a 52-week high of $348.37.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 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 company had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total value of $586,881.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total transaction of $586,881.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.