Sit Investment Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,064 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,420 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $6,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aviva PLC raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 100.4% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 166,766 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,689,000 after buying an additional 83,539 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,636,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 956,603 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $325,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48,404 shares in the last quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP now owns 50,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,996,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 147,670 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $50,198,000 after purchasing an additional 20,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.94.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 2.6 %

SHW opened at $331.91 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $352.24 and a 200 day moving average of $362.80. 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 Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $282.09 and a 12 month high of $400.42. The firm has a market cap of $83.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.