Strs Ohio Cuts Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Strs Ohio reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 71,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,641 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $22,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SHW. FMR LLC raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 65.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,427,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,384,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,102 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth approximately $498,336,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,180,068 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,229,386,000 after buying an additional 1,747,586 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth approximately $432,737,000. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 263.7% in the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 921,772 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $235,098,000 after buying an additional 668,305 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of SHW stock opened at $313.97 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $328.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $296.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.89 billion, a PE ratio of 33.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $221.76 and a fifty-two week high of $348.37.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.01. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.72% and a net margin of 10.36%. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (up previously from $270.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $352.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $346.00 to $341.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.50.

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.