Proficio Capital Partners LLC Has $162.99 Million Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 41,520.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 479,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 478,320 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.19% of Sherwin-Williams worth $162,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 88.9% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $359.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company has a market cap of $90.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $282.09 and a 12 month high of $400.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $350.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $365.58.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SHW. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $423.00 target price (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.76.

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.