Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lifted its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,683 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,498,000 after purchasing an additional 4,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after buying an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank raised Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.00.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $344.54 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $351.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $365.24. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $282.09 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42. The firm has a market cap of $86.77 billion, a PE ratio of 32.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.11%.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.