Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 109,757 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 6,907.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,346 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 109,757 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $34,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 47,568 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,132,000 after acquiring an additional 6,639 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,444,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 149.0% in the 3rd quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 9,695 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,473,000 after acquiring an additional 5,801 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,088,000 after acquiring an additional 2,810 shares during the period. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,517,000. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $390.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $395.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $341.39.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock traded up $1.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $304.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,521,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,480,916. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a one year low of $221.76 and a one year high of $348.37. The company has a market capitalization of $77.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $327.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at $4,935,302.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at $4,935,302.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 23,518 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.66, for a total transaction of $7,588,317.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,187,743.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.