Delta Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Shares in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,242 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth $32,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 87 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total value of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. This trade represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.59.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $344.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $86.61 billion, a PE ratio of 32.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $351.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $365.56.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.95%.

Sherwin-Williams 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.