Whittier Trust Co. Buys 1,762 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 44,365 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,762 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $15,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 34,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,767,000 after acquiring an additional 12,082 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,663 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,119,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 16,556 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,628,000 after buying an additional 1,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 111,311 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,838,000 after buying an additional 1,545 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SHW. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com lowered Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price target on Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $423.00 price target (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.13.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 0.3 %

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $334.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $84.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. 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 Sherwin-Williams Company has a one year low of $282.09 and a one year high of $400.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $353.91 and a 200 day moving average of $365.04.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 29.95%.

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 dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.