EP Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 56.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,704 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 10,144 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $2,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SHW. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,011,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,271,000 after purchasing an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,871,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kerusso Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,498,000 after purchasing an additional 4,439 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $423.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, March 10th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.00.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

SHW stock opened at $353.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $88.61 billion, a PE ratio of 33.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.25. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $282.09 and a 12-month high of $400.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $341.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $355.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. The firm had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.