CenterBook Partners LP Grows Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

CenterBook Partners LP grew its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 55.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,352 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $5,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. Kerusso Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,498,000 after purchasing an additional 4,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,477,000 after purchasing an additional 286,791 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE SHW opened at $313.44 on Wednesday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $282.09 and a 12-month high of $400.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $349.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $361.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock has a market cap of $78.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.26.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 29.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SHW. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $423.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.19.

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.