Value Partners Investments Inc. Increases Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 9.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,294 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $2,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perkins Coie Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $405.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Mizuho set a $395.00 price objective on Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $289.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $391.31.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.6%

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $343.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $86.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.49, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.21. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $292.33 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $348.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $348.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 71.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 29.87%.

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.