Ascent Group LLC Boosts Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 62.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,583 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 609 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,620,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,509,601,000 after acquiring an additional 184,979 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,075,351 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,176,356,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,779,294 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $866,862,000 after buying an additional 116,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,536,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $791,008,000 after buying an additional 56,161 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Redburn Atlantic raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.00.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of SHW stock traded down $1.78 on Tuesday, reaching $350.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 345,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,611,158. The company has a market capitalization of $88.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.58, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.16. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $232.06 and a 12-month high of $356.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $308.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $315.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17.

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

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

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.