The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Receives $396.47 Average Target Price from Brokerages

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $397.63.

SHW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

NYSE SHW opened at $345.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Sherwin-Williams has a 12 month low of $282.09 and a 12 month high of $400.42. The stock has a market cap of $87.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $376.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $353.90.

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

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.49%.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. This represents a 28.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the firm’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 value of $6,275,198.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SHW. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,474,238,000 after purchasing an additional 999,164 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,733,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,799,196,000 after buying an additional 58,463 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,921,846 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $573,538,000 after buying an additional 53,487 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,524,367 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $454,917,000 after acquiring an additional 238,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,421,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $542,387,000 after acquiring an additional 15,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% 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.