Blue Fin Capital Inc. Boosts Stock Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Blue Fin Capital Inc. raised its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 38.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,860 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Blue Fin Capital Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth $25,000. Lee Financial Co bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of Sherwin-Williams 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of Sherwin-Williams 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $395.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $377.00 price objective (down previously from $385.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $341.39.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE SHW traded up $6.84 on Friday, hitting $311.30. 2,027,799 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,681,363. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $327.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $301.05. The company has a market capitalization of $78.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.18. 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 2.32, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.05). Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 73.74%. The business had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.43 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

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

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.