Versant Capital Management Inc Sells 157 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Versant Capital Management Inc reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 14.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 926 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,444,000. AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,088,000 after acquiring an additional 2,810 shares in the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,517,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 182.2% in the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,337,000 after acquiring an additional 6,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 261,178 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $77,510,000 after acquiring an additional 13,984 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup cut their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $390.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $317.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $343.41.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock traded down $2.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $300.19. 1,828,735 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,555,812. The company has a 50 day moving average of $307.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $313.03. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $232.06 and a fifty-two week high of $348.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market cap of $76.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.17.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.49%.

Sherwin-Williams 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.