Allen Capital Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Allen Capital Group LLC reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,555 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 65.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,427,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,384,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146,102 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth about $498,336,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,180,068 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,229,386,000 after buying an additional 1,747,586 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth about $432,737,000. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 263.7% during the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 921,772 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $235,098,000 after buying an additional 668,305 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE SHW opened at $308.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.15. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $221.76 and a 52-week high of $348.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $328.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.23 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $346.00 to $341.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $330.00 to $378.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at $4,935,302.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.