Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Acquires 1,495 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 35.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,668 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $1,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,474,238,000 after acquiring an additional 999,164 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter worth approximately $230,829,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 41,520.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 479,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $162,987,000 after purchasing an additional 478,320 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1,717.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 326,903 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $124,769,000 after purchasing an additional 308,921 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,477,000 after purchasing an additional 286,791 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW stock opened at $350.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $353.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $365.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $282.09 and a 12 month high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. 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. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.13.

Sherwin-Williams 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.