Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Decreases Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 55.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,050 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,821 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $1,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.4% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 87 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,560 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. First Interstate Bank raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.9% during the third quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 1,466 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% during the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 720 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW opened at $352.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $88.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.46, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1-year low of $282.09 and a 1-year high of $400.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $352.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $365.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total value of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHW has been the subject of several research reports. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $400.00.

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.