Twin Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,689 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares during the quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $3,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,285,346 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $436,928,000 after acquiring an additional 12,602 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 440,137 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $149,616,000 after purchasing an additional 116,582 shares during the period. Polymer Capital Management US LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,926,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,588,755 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,239,715,000 after buying an additional 106,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $816,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $380.00 target price (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $423.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $380.00 to $350.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $393.31.

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Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Sherwin-Williams stock traded up $7.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $337.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,032,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,781,910. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.79 billion, a PE ratio of 31.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.26. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $282.09 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $347.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $360.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.79 dividend. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Sherwin-Williams's dividend payout ratio is 29.95%.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. This trade represents a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.