National Pension Service Purchases 148,144 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

National Pension Service raised its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 29.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 647,620 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 148,144 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.26% of Sherwin-Williams worth $220,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% in the third 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,733,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,799,196,000 after purchasing an additional 58,463 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,724,746 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $586,293,000 after purchasing an additional 187,724 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 15,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 5.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,412,722 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $542,711,000 after purchasing an additional 78,075 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $353.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $350.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $365.62. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.48, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 earned $1.81 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 0.89%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SHW shares. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of 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. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given 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, Sherwin-Williams has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.59.

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.