Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $394.18 and last traded at $393.65, with a volume of 52938 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $388.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $455.00 to $446.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.47.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 2.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $99.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.68, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $377.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $344.54.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.19). Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.45% and a net margin of 11.09%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total transaction of $5,326,371.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,301,041.60. This represents a 18.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. This trade represents a 28.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sherwin-Williams

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SHW. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Tamar Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 48,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,636 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 24.1% during the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 4.3% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 98,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,449,000 after purchasing an additional 4,074 shares during the last quarter. 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.