Essex Financial Services Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,941 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SHW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,256,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,421,518,000 after purchasing an additional 187,478 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $1,384,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,102 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,063,957 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,291,563,000 after acquiring an additional 75,571 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.1% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,662,647 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $679,108,000 after buying an additional 28,554 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,524,391 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $643,846,000 after buying an additional 106,319 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

SHW opened at $304.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $327.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.64. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $221.76 and a 52-week high of $348.37.

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

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on SHW. KeyCorp raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $340.00 to $334.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $390.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $341.39.

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.