Handelsbanken Fonder AB Cuts Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 0.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 104,653 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 47 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $36,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,836,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,422,932,000 after purchasing an additional 138,170 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,588,755 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,239,715,000 after acquiring an additional 106,093 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,829,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,636,679,000 after buying an additional 96,571 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,316,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,467,138,000 after acquiring an additional 86,268 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at $1,359,747,000. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SHW shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $423.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.00.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $360.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $346.54 and a 200-day moving average of $352.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $291.77 and a 52-week high of $400.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.20, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.21.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.17 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.87%.

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.