Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Receives “Hold” Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reissued their hold rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $380.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $423.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on SHW. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $423.00 price target (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.13.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:SHW opened at $350.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Sherwin-Williams has a one year low of $282.09 and a one year high of $400.42. The company has a market cap of $88.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $353.57 and a 200-day moving average of $365.85.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 29.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SHW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 0.6% in 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 period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,636,679,000 after acquiring an additional 96,571 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 86,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,359,747,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.