QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 138.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,967 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 24,394 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $14,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted 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 buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the period. Kerusso Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,498,000 after buying an additional 4,439 shares during the period. Finally, Burney Co. lifted its position in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho reduced their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $403.31.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.0 %

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $356.02 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $350.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $365.51. The company has a market cap of $89.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 29.95%.

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.