Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Boosts Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 54.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,773 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares during the period. Burney Co. raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,871,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the period. Finally, Kerusso Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,498,000 after acquiring an additional 4,439 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $363.99 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $91.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $282.09 and a 12 month high of $400.42. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $352.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $365.99.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company 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 paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $403.31.

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.