Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Takes $934,000 Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,449 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $934,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at $1,049,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.1% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,225,000 after acquiring an additional 3,403 shares in the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 2.8% in the third quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,708,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 176.6% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 8.5% in the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,653,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,396,349.27. This trade represents a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total value of $5,326,371.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. This represents a 18.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of SHW opened at $399.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $100.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.17. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a one year low of $272.34 and a one year high of $400.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $377.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $345.10.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.49%.

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.