UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $3,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 158.5% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Anfield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1,154.5% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of SHW opened at $360.83 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $232.06 and a fifty-two week high of $371.19. The company has a market capitalization of $91.02 billion, a PE ratio of 38.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $339.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $324.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.19. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 75.58% and a net margin of 10.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total transaction of $5,326,371.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SHW shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $386.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.68.

Sherwin-Williams 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.