Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) PT Lowered to $315.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) had its price objective reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $317.00 to $315.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $380.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $352.00 to $340.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $341.39.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $306.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $328.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.51. Sherwin-Williams has a 1 year low of $221.76 and a 1 year high of $348.37.

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

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,435,960 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,685,876,000 after acquiring an additional 179,274 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 65.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,427,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,384,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146,102 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,063,957 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,291,563,000 after purchasing an additional 75,571 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,197,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,176,356,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.