Crews Bank & Trust Makes New Investment in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Tamar Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 48,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,608,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $362.39 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $360.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $363.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $282.09 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $455.00 to $446.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $400.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total value of $971,185.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,396,349.27. This represents a 28.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,621,253.60. This trade represents a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

About Sherwin-Williams

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.