Maple Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Maple Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,286 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,474,238,000 after acquiring an additional 999,164 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 41,520.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 479,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $162,987,000 after purchasing an additional 478,320 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1,717.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 326,903 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $124,769,000 after purchasing an additional 308,921 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,477,000 after purchasing an additional 286,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 864,558 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $293,889,000 after buying an additional 278,242 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

NYSE:SHW opened at $362.46 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $351.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $365.65. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1-year low of $282.09 and a 1-year high of $400.42. The firm has a market cap of $91.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Berenberg Bank raised Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $403.31.

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.