Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Raises Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. grew its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,683 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,560 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 87 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. First Interstate Bank lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 1,466 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 720 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SHW shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $400.00.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % 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 owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 1.6 %

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $344.54 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $282.09 and a twelve month high of $400.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $351.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $365.24. The company has a market capitalization of $86.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 27.11%.

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.