ICW Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 167 shares during the quarter. Sherwin-Williams makes up approximately 1.4% of ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $3,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 99 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SHW. Zelman & Associates upgraded Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $423.00 price target (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.13.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $334.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $282.09 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $353.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $364.61.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.