Gradient Investments LLC Increases Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 434.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 2,710 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,176,356,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,197,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,351 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 132.8% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,609,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $480,291,000 after buying an additional 917,979 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 610.0% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,045,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $311,971,000 after buying an additional 898,143 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 8,986.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 534,121 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $166,592,000 after buying an additional 528,243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $344.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.00.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $354.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $320.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $319.56. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $232.06 and a fifty-two week high of $357.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.49%.

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.