Korea Investment CORP Lowers Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company $SHW

Korea Investment CORP decreased its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 255,191 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 20,774 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $88,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 86 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 96.0% in the third quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 98 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 129.8% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.50, for a total transaction of $1,069,872.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,928,717.50. This trade represents a 35.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.47, for a total transaction of $915,913.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,045 shares in the company, valued at $3,661,101.15. This represents a 20.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SHW shares. Zacks Research downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Vertical Research upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $371.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group set a $420.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.67.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of SHW opened at $329.77 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $308.84 and a 12 month high of $379.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $352.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $345.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $81.57 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.25.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 65.26% and a net margin of 10.90%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 31.16%.

About Sherwin-Williams

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) is a global manufacturer and distributor of paints, coatings and related products. Founded in 1866 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company supplies a broad range of coatings for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Its product offering includes architectural paints and stains, industrial and protective coatings, automotive finishes, and a variety of sundry products such as primers, sealants and specialty treatments used by professionals and consumers.

The company sells through multiple channels, including a large network of company-operated retail paint stores that serve professional contractors and do-it-yourself consumers, as well as through distributors and mass retailers.