First Horizon Advisors Inc. Sells 711 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,454 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 711 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $1,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 65.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,427,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,384,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,102 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth $432,737,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 2,853.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 650,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $202,793,000 after purchasing an additional 628,175 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 188.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 758,914 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $193,561,000 after buying an additional 495,668 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 49.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 985,909 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $251,456,000 after buying an additional 327,372 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com lowered Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $390.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $341.39.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of SHW stock opened at $311.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $327.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.93 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.18. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $221.76 and a 52-week high of $348.37.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.05). Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 73.74% and a net margin of 10.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 30.49%.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was 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 owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

About Sherwin-Williams

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.