Empirical Finance LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $3,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SHW. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 88.9% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 102.3% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 136.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 104 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 233.3% during the 2nd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 63,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. This represents a 18.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SHW. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $396.47.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $387.39 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $264.54 and a 12-month high of $392.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $375.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $340.86. The firm has a market cap of $97.56 billion, a PE ratio of 38.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.17.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.19). Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 28.49%.

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.