Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,945 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $23,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SHW. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1,717.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 326,903 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $124,769,000 after purchasing an additional 308,921 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,477,000 after purchasing an additional 286,791 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 864,558 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $293,889,000 after purchasing an additional 278,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 682.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 244,285 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $83,040,000 after purchasing an additional 213,076 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SHW shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $400.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total value of $6,275,198.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. The trade was a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of SHW stock opened at $344.54 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $351.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $365.38. 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 stock has a market cap of $86.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $282.09 and a twelve month high of $400.42.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend 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.