Capital World Investors Purchases 65,341 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company $SHW

Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 7.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 964,274 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,341 shares during the period. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $333,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,637,705 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,838,532,000 after purchasing an additional 309,153 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,111,157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,746,222,000 after purchasing an additional 90,482 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,887,808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,334,918,000 after buying an additional 351,453 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,296,565,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,052,021 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,056,811,000 after buying an additional 12,715 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on SHW. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Mizuho upped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Zacks Research cut Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Vertical Research raised Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $371.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.21.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,661,101.15. The trade was a 20.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.50, for a total value of $1,069,872.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,928,717.50. This trade represents a 35.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 2.4%

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $322.56 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $352.38 and its 200-day moving average is $345.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.79 billion, a PE ratio of 31.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.25. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $308.84 and a fifty-two week high of $379.65.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.16%.

Sherwin-Williams Profile

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.