Brokerages Set The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) PT at $396.47

Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $396.47.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 0.6 %

SHW traded down $2.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $364.50. 1,118,837 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,654,766. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $379.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $352.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Sherwin-Williams has a fifty-two week low of $282.09 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42. The stock has a market cap of $91.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.19.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams's payout ratio is currently 28.49%.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total value of $6,275,198.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. This trade represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,396,349.27. This represents a 28.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 50.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 13.2% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 5,355 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,745,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 532,123 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $158,801,000 after acquiring an additional 8,005 shares in the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 816 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 97,016 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,952,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% 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.