The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Short Interest Update

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,520,000 shares, a growth of 41.7% from the February 13th total of 4,600,000 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $423.00 price objective (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price objective on Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,836,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,422,932,000 after buying an additional 138,170 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,588,755 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,239,715,000 after buying an additional 106,093 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,829,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,636,679,000 after buying an additional 96,571 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,316,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,467,138,000 after acquiring an additional 86,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,359,747,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of SHW stock opened at $342.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.20 billion, a PE ratio of 32.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. Sherwin-Williams has a 1-year low of $282.09 and a 1-year high of $400.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $353.95 and a 200 day moving average of $365.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.95%.

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.