Ieq Capital LLC Boosts Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,319 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 3,574 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $5,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,871,000 after buying an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total value of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at $11,621,253.60. The trade was 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 this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of SHW stock opened at $344.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $351.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $365.24. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $282.09 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 27.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on SHW shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $400.00.

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.