The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Short Interest Update

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,410,000 shares, a decrease of 21.8% from the September 15th total of 3,080,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at $23,301,041.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the period. American International Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 68,605 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $21,398,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $278,000. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 8,236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,569,000 after purchasing an additional 4,118 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $418.00 price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $338.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $373.17.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of SHW stock traded up $4.39 on Tuesday, reaching $388.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,036,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,536,756. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.02 billion, a PE ratio of 39.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The business’s 50-day moving average is $367.81 and its 200 day moving average is $332.74. Sherwin-Williams has a one year low of $232.06 and a one year high of $392.57.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.27 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 29.15%.

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.