The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $400.65.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $455.00 to $446.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. This trade represents a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. The trade was a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sherwin-Williams

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SHW. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 6.4% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 47,276 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,044,000 after acquiring an additional 2,825 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 53.8% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 726 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.3% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 98,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,449,000 after acquiring an additional 4,074 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 20.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at about $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $358.23 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a PE ratio of 35.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.22. Sherwin-Williams has a 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is $359.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $363.60.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.