Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Sells 2,045 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,510 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,045 shares during the quarter. Sherwin-Williams accounts for 1.4% of Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $15,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $5,871,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,498,000 after acquiring an additional 4,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,477,000 after purchasing an additional 286,791 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SHW stock opened at $341.20 on Wednesday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $282.09 and a 12-month high of $400.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $354.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $364.35. 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 company has a market capitalization of $85.82 billion, a PE ratio of 32.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SHW shares. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.13.

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.