Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Stock Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,064 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 8,331 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $39,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,620,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,509,601,000 after purchasing an additional 184,979 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,197,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,351 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,176,356,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,779,294 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $866,862,000 after purchasing an additional 116,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,536,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $791,008,000 after purchasing an additional 56,161 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $340.00 to $334.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 note on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.00.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

NYSE SHW traded up $3.80 on Monday, hitting $353.02. The company had a trading volume of 848,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,616,030. The company has a market capitalization of $89.05 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $307.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $314.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $232.06 and a 12-month high of $353.78.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.33 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 75.58%. The firm’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.29 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 30.49%.

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.