BMO Capital Markets Increases Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Price Target to $425.00

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $400.00 to $425.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on SHW. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $338.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $418.00 price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $370.39.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW stock opened at $373.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $363.12 and a 200-day moving average of $330.96. Sherwin-Williams has a one year low of $232.06 and a one year high of $385.25. The company has a market cap of $94.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total value of $5,326,371.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at $23,301,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SHW. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 13.2% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 41,352 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,783,000 after buying an additional 4,822 shares in the last quarter. Unique Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth about $239,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 6.4% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 47,276 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,044,000 after buying an additional 2,825 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth about $468,000. Finally, JLB & Associates Inc. grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 9.1% during the third quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. now owns 36,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,923,000 after buying an additional 3,047 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.