Zhang Financial LLC Grows Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Zhang Financial LLC boosted its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,635 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SHW. Roundview Capital LLC raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 8,065 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,013,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 189.1% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 10,409 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 6,808 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 118,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,956,000 after purchasing an additional 24,884 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the 1st quarter worth $1,231,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $352.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other 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 transaction of $767,859.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total transaction of $586,881.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,029,710.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $305.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $77.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a PEG 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’s 50-day moving average price is $328.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released 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. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid 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 0.93%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.