Amica Mutual Insurance Co. Cuts Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Amica Mutual Insurance Co. lowered its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 28.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,281 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,228 shares during the period. Amica Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $4,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 9,310.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 941 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter worth $353,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 25.9% in the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 10.3% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,167 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HCR Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 0.1 %

SHW traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $306.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,645,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,471,010. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $221.76 and a 1 year high of $348.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $327.99 and its 200-day moving average is $300.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.63, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.05). Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 73.74% and a net margin of 10.52%. The company had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.43 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SHW. UBS Group upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $312.00 to $402.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. KeyCorp raised Sherwin-Williams from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $341.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated 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 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 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.