Sabal Trust CO Acquires Shares of 689 The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Sabal Trust CO acquired a new stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 689 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SHW. Roundview Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 8,065 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,013,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 189.1% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 10,409 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 6,808 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 118,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,956,000 after buying an additional 24,884 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 1st quarter valued at $1,231,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SHW. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. UBS Group raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $330.00 to $378.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $346.00 to $341.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.39.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

NYSE:SHW traded up $1.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $331.85. The company had a trading volume of 867,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,155,826. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $220.22 and a 52-week high of $348.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $326.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $293.30. The company has a market capitalization of $84.44 billion, a PE ratio of 35.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.01. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total value of $586,881.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,029,710.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237. 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.