Short Interest in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Expands By 22.5%

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,050,000 shares, a growth of 22.5% from the October 15th total of 2,490,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $344.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $396.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total value of $5,326,371.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. This trade represents a 18.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SHW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,620,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,509,601,000 after buying an additional 184,979 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,474,238,000 after buying an additional 999,164 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 10.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,302,120 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $799,595,000 after buying an additional 219,149 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,921,846 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $573,538,000 after acquiring an additional 53,487 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 132.8% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,609,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $480,291,000 after acquiring an additional 917,979 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW stock traded down $9.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $378.99. 1,711,805 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,634,481. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $376.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $341.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Sherwin-Williams has a fifty-two week low of $264.54 and a fifty-two week high of $392.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.17.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.20 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.45% and a net margin of 11.09%. Sherwin-Williams’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.20 EPS. Analysts predict that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 28.49%.

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.