MQS Management LLC Grows Stock Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

MQS Management LLC lifted its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 71.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,410 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the quarter. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conning Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.9% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 1,606 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,403 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Optas LLC raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SHW shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $418.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $338.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.68.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW stock opened at $379.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $232.06 and a 1 year high of $382.83. The company has a market cap of $95.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $352.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $328.03.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.19. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 75.58% and a net margin of 10.92%. The business had revenue of $6.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total value of $5,326,371.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.