Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 36 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $8,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,474,238,000 after acquiring an additional 999,164 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth approximately $230,829,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 41,520.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 479,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $162,987,000 after acquiring an additional 478,320 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,477,000 after acquiring an additional 286,791 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 864,558 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $293,889,000 after acquiring an additional 278,242 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SHW. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $423.00 target price (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.13.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $334.38 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1-year low of $282.09 and a 1-year high of $400.42. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $353.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $364.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $84.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released 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 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 29.95%.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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.