Ascent Group LLC Buys 268 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 18.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,718 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 88.9% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 102.3% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 136.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 104 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, UBS Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $396.47.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

SHW opened at $395.37 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The company has a market cap of $99.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $379.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $348.47. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $278.45 and a 12-month high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.20 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 28.49%.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $11,621,253.60. This trade represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. The trade was a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.