American Century Companies Inc. Trims Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,610 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 88,117 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.08% of Sherwin-Williams worth $62,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,620,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,509,601,000 after buying an additional 184,979 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,197,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,351 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,176,356,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,779,294 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $866,862,000 after purchasing an additional 116,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,536,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $791,008,000 after buying an additional 56,161 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 0.4 %

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $375.40 on Monday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $232.06 and a fifty-two week high of $378.86. The company has a market cap of $94.70 billion, a PE ratio of 40.02, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $346.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $326.70.

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

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 30.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total value of $5,326,371.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 63,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $386.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $418.00 price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.68.

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.