AIA Group Ltd Boosts Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 20.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,810 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $5,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SHW. Roundview Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 8.1% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 8,065 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,013,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 189.1% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 10,409 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,598,000 after buying an additional 6,808 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 26.5% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 118,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,956,000 after buying an additional 24,884 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the first quarter worth $1,231,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SHW. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. One 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total value of $586,881.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,029,710.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW stock traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $309.06. 734,167 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,393,877. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $221.76 and a twelve month high of $348.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $328.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

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.