Midwest Capital Advisors LLC Takes $26,000 Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 77 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SHW. FMR LLC increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,474,238,000 after purchasing an additional 999,164 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,733,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,799,196,000 after purchasing an additional 58,463 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,421,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $542,387,000 after purchasing an additional 15,843 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,412,722 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $542,711,000 after purchasing an additional 78,075 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,124,999 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $382,421,000 after purchasing an additional 40,825 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE SHW opened at $344.54 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company has a market cap of $86.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $351.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $365.56. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $282.09 and a 12-month high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 29.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SHW. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $400.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,621,253.60. The trade was a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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.