Sherwin-Williams’ (SHW) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Citigroup

Citigroup reissued their buy rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has a $423.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $418.00.

SHW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $403.31.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $362.46 on Wednesday. Sherwin-Williams has a twelve month low of $282.09 and a twelve month high of $400.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $351.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $365.65.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results 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 prior year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Institutional Trading of Sherwin-Williams

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

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.