Intellus Advisors LLC Takes $357,000 Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Intellus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,050 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $357,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 135,631 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,107,000 after buying an additional 16,502 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 431,402 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $146,646,000 after purchasing an additional 129,318 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 21,960 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,465,000 after purchasing an additional 6,911 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter worth about $871,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,449 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $423.00 price target (up previously from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

NYSE SHW opened at $334.38 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $282.09 and a 52 week high of $400.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $353.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $364.59.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.95%.

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.