Ascent Group LLC Sells 133 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ascent Group LLC lessened its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 8.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,450 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 79.0% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 4,028 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 48,928 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,261,000 after acquiring an additional 6,874 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 51.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 158,242 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,356,000 after purchasing an additional 54,070 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at about $240,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $338.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $418.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.39.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $380.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $96.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.17. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $232.06 and a twelve month high of $385.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The company has a 50 day moving average of $361.59 and a 200 day moving average of $330.33.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.19. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 75.58% and a net margin of 10.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 30.49%.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total transaction of $5,326,371.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at $23,301,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company 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.