First Foundation Advisors Cuts Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

First Foundation Advisors lowered its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,267 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 114 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SHW. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW opened at $329.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42. The firm has a market cap of $82.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $347.88 and its 200-day moving average is $360.67.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $380.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $393.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams 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.