The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

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

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SHW shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE SHW opened at $337.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $368.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $357.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Sherwin-Williams has a one year low of $282.09 and a one year high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($0.19). Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.45% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 28.49%.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total value of $971,185.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,396,349.27. The trade was a 28.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. The trade was a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 88.9% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 87 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 102.3% during the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

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.