Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $5.56 Million Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $5,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 47,568 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,132,000 after acquiring an additional 6,639 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $38,444,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 149.0% in the third quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 9,695 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,473,000 after purchasing an additional 5,801 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,088,000 after buying an additional 2,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,517,000. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the business’s 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 owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total value of $586,881.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,029,710.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW stock opened at $302.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $328.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $298.73.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.72% and a net margin of 10.36%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.95%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

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.