Inspire Advisors LLC Has $280,000 Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Inspire Advisors LLC decreased its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 823 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 43 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 253,292 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $86,102,000 after purchasing an additional 5,486 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,668 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,412 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 13,296 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 259.6% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 105,772 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $35,955,000 after purchasing an additional 76,361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SHW. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $350.21 on Thursday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $282.09 and a 52 week high of $400.42. 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 has a market capitalization of $88.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $353.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $365.85.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.