The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $370.39.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $344.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE SHW opened at $381.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.69, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.17. Sherwin-Williams has a twelve month low of $232.06 and a twelve month high of $385.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $360.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $330.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.33 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 75.58%. Sherwin-Williams’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total transaction of $5,326,371.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SHW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,620,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,509,601,000 after acquiring an additional 184,979 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,197,952,000 after buying an additional 1,075,351 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,536,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $791,008,000 after buying an additional 56,161 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,302,120 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $799,595,000 after acquiring an additional 219,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,921,846 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $573,538,000 after acquiring an additional 53,487 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Sherwin-Williams

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.