Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Decreases Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,904 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 35 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $4,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 36.7% in the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 8,227 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,873,000 after buying an additional 2,210 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 999 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,594 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 3,077 shares in the last quarter. Orser Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the first quarter worth $382,000. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 357.0% during the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 10,968 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,830,000 after purchasing an additional 8,568 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE SHW opened at $362.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $282.09 and a 12 month high of $400.42. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $345.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $353.34.

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

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 29.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SHW shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Sherwin-Williams from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $423.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.00.

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.