The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Receives $341.39 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $341.39.

Several research analysts have issued reports on SHW shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $377.00 target price (down from $385.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Sherwin-Williams from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,935,302.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,435,960 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,685,876,000 after buying an additional 179,274 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 65.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,427,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,384,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,102 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,063,957 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,291,563,000 after acquiring an additional 75,571 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,197,952,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth $1,176,356,000. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $314.93 on Friday. Sherwin-Williams has a 1 year low of $221.76 and a 1 year high of $348.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average is $326.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.34.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.05). Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 73.74%. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. Sherwin-Williams’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.49%.

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.