Sone Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 54,739 The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Sone Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 54,739 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,607,000. Sherwin-Williams accounts for 2.4% of Sone Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 138,170 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,316,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,467,138,000 after buying an additional 86,268 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at $1,359,747,000. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 target price (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $423.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.00.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE SHW opened at $363.22 on Monday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $341.61 and a 200-day moving average of $355.15. The company has a market capitalization of $91.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 29.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.