The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.72

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of 0.715 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th.

Sherwin-Williams has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 47 consecutive years. Sherwin-Williams has a dividend payout ratio of 22.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sherwin-Williams to earn $12.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.86 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.4%.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:SHW opened at $309.38 on Friday. 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 has a 1-year low of $221.76 and a 1-year high of $348.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $328.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.00.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.72% and a net margin of 10.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the business’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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SHW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth $498,336,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,747,586 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 612.8% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 545,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $122,567,000 after purchasing an additional 468,800 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 775.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 509,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $127,233,000 after purchasing an additional 451,493 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1,034.8% during the first quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 465,665 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $104,668,000 after purchasing an additional 424,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.94.

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.