Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Acquires 127 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,577 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $1,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price target (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.19.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $323.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $351.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $362.31. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $282.09 and a twelve month high of $400.42. The company has a market capitalization of $81.32 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

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, 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. Research analysts expect 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 is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.95%.

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.