The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Shares Purchased by Suncoast Equity Management

Suncoast Equity Management lifted its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,061 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. Sherwin-Williams accounts for 0.5% of Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $3,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SHW. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 47,568 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,132,000 after purchasing an additional 6,639 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth $38,444,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 149.0% in the third quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 9,695 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,473,000 after purchasing an additional 5,801 shares in the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter worth $4,517,000. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 182.2% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,337,000 after acquiring an additional 6,909 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total value of $586,881.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $352.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Argus upped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $330.00 to $378.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.94.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of SHW stock traded down $2.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $311.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 611,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,390,671. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $328.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $296.45. The company has a market capitalization of $79.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $221.76 and a fifty-two week high of $348.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

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.