Essex Savings Bank Buys Shares of 900 The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Essex Savings Bank acquired a new stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SHW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,256,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,421,518,000 after acquiring an additional 187,478 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,382,442 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,756,746,000 after purchasing an additional 211,790 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 65.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,427,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,384,160,000 after buying an additional 2,146,102 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,180,068 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,229,386,000 after buying an additional 1,747,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,179,547 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $936,902,000 after acquiring an additional 73,605 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of SHW stock traded down $5.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $332.89. 532,926 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,408,458. The stock has a market cap of $84.71 billion, a PE ratio of 36.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $323.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $220.22 and a 12 month high of $348.37.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.01. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $346.00 to $341.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $352.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Karl J. Jorgenrud sold 2,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.50, for a total transaction of $867,525.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,173,472.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.