Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Has $39.26 Million Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC cut its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 47.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 125,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 115,612 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $39,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Hawaiian Bank grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,358,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 754 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 4,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,062 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 848 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total transaction of $586,881.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,029,710.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.39.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW stock traded up $1.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $331.85. 867,110 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,155,826. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $326.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $293.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $220.22 and a 52 week high of $348.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.44 billion, a PE ratio of 35.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.15.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.23 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

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.