Atom Investors LP Sells 7,364 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Atom Investors LP reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 25.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,638 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,364 shares during the quarter. Sherwin-Williams comprises approximately 0.9% of Atom Investors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $8,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,296 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,548,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 87 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,560 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Interstate Bank lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 1,466 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,396,349.27. This trade represents a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped 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 lowered their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $455.00 to $446.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $396.47.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:SHW opened at $397.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.17. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a one year low of $272.34 and a one year high of $400.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $378.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $347.31.

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). Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.45% and a net margin of 11.09%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 28.49%.

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.