Sapient Capital LLC Sells 136 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,253 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $3,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SHW. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,545 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth $169,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,610 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,907,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.0%

SHW stock opened at $357.14 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $347.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $352.64. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $292.27 and a 52 week high of $400.42. The company has a market capitalization of $89.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.21.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. The business had revenue of $5.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. Sherwin-Williams’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 29.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $395.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $420.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.00.

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.