Ritholtz Wealth Management Grows Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 51.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,046 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $2,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SHW. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 44,853.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 6,728 shares in the last quarter. Lee Financial Co purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $352.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $295.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.39.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

NYSE:SHW traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $347.33. 937,135 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,430,159. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $322.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.79. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $211.91 and a 1 year high of $348.37. The company has a market cap of $88.38 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.15.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at $4,935,302.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,935,302.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 23,518 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.66, for a total transaction of $7,588,317.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,475 shares in the company, valued at $9,187,743.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.