National Pension Service Purchases 148,144 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

National Pension Service increased its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 29.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 647,620 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 148,144 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $220,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,498,000 after buying an additional 4,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $353.18 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $350.43 and its 200-day moving average is $365.62. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $282.09 and a 12 month high of $400.42. The company has a market capitalization of $88.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SHW shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Berenberg Bank raised Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $400.59.

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.