Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $226,000 Investment in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 723 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Lee Financial Co acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SHW. StockNews.com upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $346.00 to $341.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.94.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $302.34 on Wednesday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $221.76 and a 12-month high of $348.37. The company has a market cap of $76.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $328.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $298.73.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 23,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.66, for a total transaction of $7,588,317.88. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,187,743.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237. Insiders own 0.60% 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.