Generali Investments Management Co LLC Makes New $186,000 Investment in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 546 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,271,000 after purchasing an additional 2,303 shares during the period. Burney Co. boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. Kerusso Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,498,000 after buying an additional 4,439 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 117,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,676,000 after buying an additional 4,681 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

NYSE SHW opened at $334.56 on Thursday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $282.09 and a 1 year high of $400.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $353.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $365.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.79 dividend. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price objective on Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.13.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.