Xponance Inc. Trims Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Xponance Inc. decreased its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 56,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 656 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $19,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1,000.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 99 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 0.3 %

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $342.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1-year low of $282.09 and a 1-year high of $400.42. The company has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a PE ratio of 32.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $353.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $365.49.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 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 business earned $1.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, March 10th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.13.

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.