Retirement Systems of Alabama Purchases 58,457 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,549 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,457 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $86,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 401,419 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $125,307,000 after purchasing an additional 25,696 shares during the period. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth $209,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SHW shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $377.00 target price (down from $385.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $317.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $395.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $341.39.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total transaction of $586,881.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total value of $586,881.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

SHW stock traded up $1.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $306.45. 1,820,261 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,484,751. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $77.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $221.76 and a 52-week high of $348.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $328.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $299.51.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 73.74%. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.49%.

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.