The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Holdings Lowered by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC cut its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,018 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 148 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $5,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Lee Financial Co acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Northcoast Research raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $317.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. KeyCorp raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $341.39.

Insider Activity

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 23,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.66, for a total value of $7,588,317.88. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,187,743.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 value of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at $4,935,302.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 23,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.66, for a total value of $7,588,317.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,475 shares of the company’s stock, 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 valued at $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE:SHW traded up $6.84 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $311.30. The stock had a trading volume of 2,027,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,363. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.19, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.18. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1-year low of $221.76 and a 1-year high of $348.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $327.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.80.

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

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 30.49%.

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.