Analysts Set The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) PT at $402.25

Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $402.25.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 2.3 %

SHW opened at $329.92 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $367.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $358.10. Sherwin-Williams has a twelve month low of $282.09 and a twelve month high of $400.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97.

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

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 28.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,396,349.27. This trade represents a 28.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total value of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SHW. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 3,572 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the second quarter valued at $2,465,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 106,566 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,802,000 after acquiring an additional 13,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the second quarter worth approximately $1,155,000. 77.67% of the stock is 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.