Lincoln National Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Lincoln National Corp lowered its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 479 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $5,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at about $432,737,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2,853.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 650,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $202,793,000 after buying an additional 628,175 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 188.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 758,914 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $193,561,000 after purchasing an additional 495,668 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 985,909 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $251,456,000 after purchasing an additional 327,372 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $312.00 to $402.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $377.00 price objective (down from $385.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $317.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $341.39.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SHW traded up $3.63 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $314.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,533,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,487,809. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $221.76 and a 12 month high of $348.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $326.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.34. The company has a market cap of $79.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.18.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.05). Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 73.74%. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. Sherwin-Williams’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total value of $586,881.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total value of $586,881.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,029,710.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.