Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Receives Outperform Rating from BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets reissued their outperform rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $377.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $385.00.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on SHW. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $360.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $395.00 to $380.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $340.00 to $334.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $341.39.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $306.45 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $328.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.51. Sherwin-Williams has a 12 month low of $221.76 and a 12 month high of $348.37.

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). The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 73.74%. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.04 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.43 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 23,518 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,187,743.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 23,518 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,187,743.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the 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 owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 47,568 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,132,000 after acquiring an additional 6,639 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,444,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 149.0% during the 3rd quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 9,695 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,473,000 after acquiring an additional 5,801 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,088,000 after acquiring an additional 2,810 shares during the period. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,517,000. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Company Profile

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.