Bancreek Capital Management LP Sells 6,707 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Bancreek Capital Management LP lowered its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 29.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,980 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 6,707 shares during the quarter. Sherwin-Williams makes up about 5.3% of Bancreek Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Bancreek Capital Management LP’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $5,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SHW. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,474,238,000 after purchasing an additional 999,164 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth about $230,829,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 41,520.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 479,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $162,987,000 after buying an additional 478,320 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,477,000 after buying an additional 286,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SHW. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $423.00 price target (up previously from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.13.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $334.38 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $282.09 and a 12-month high of $400.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $353.97 and its 200-day moving average is $364.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 29.95%.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.