Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 785 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lowered its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 785 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $1,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. First United Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 158.5% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1,154.5% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $344.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $338.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.00.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of SHW stock traded down $1.35 on Friday, hitting $354.40. 1,023,717 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,989,448. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $232.06 and a 52 week high of $357.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $320.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $319.56. The firm has a market cap of $89.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.78, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.33 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 75.58%. The company’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

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

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.