Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Reaches New 52-Week High at $371.28

Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $371.28 and last traded at $370.43, with a volume of 647517 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $363.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SHW shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $344.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $362.68.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $343.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $326.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.17.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.19. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 75.58% and a net margin of 10.92%. The business had revenue of $6.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total transaction of $5,326,371.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 63,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,301,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SHW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,620,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,509,601,000 after purchasing an additional 184,979 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,197,952,000 after buying an additional 1,075,351 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth about $1,176,356,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,779,294 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $866,862,000 after acquiring an additional 116,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,536,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $791,008,000 after acquiring an additional 56,161 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

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.