Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 140 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,629 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,271,000 after purchasing an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kerusso Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,498,000 after purchasing an additional 4,439 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $423.00 price target (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $403.31.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $363.99 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $352.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $365.99. The company has a market capitalization of $91.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 29.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction 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 owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Profile

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.