Sherwin-Williams’ (SHW) Buy Rating Reiterated at Citigroup

Citigroup reissued their buy rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $423.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $418.00.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on SHW. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price target on Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $403.31.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 2.0 %

SHW opened at $362.46 on Wednesday. Sherwin-Williams has a one year low of $282.09 and a one year high of $400.42. The company has a market cap of $91.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $351.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $365.65.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 88.9% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

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.