Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW – Get Rating) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SHW. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $290.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 28th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Barclays cut their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $245.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.53.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.2 %

SHW traded down $2.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $235.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,218,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,725,461. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $243.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.07. Sherwin-Williams has a 1-year low of $195.24 and a 1-year high of $288.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.05. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 90.04% and a net margin of 9.12%. The business had revenue of $5.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sherwin-Williams will post 8.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, CEO John G. Morikis bought 2,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $226.70 per share, with a total value of $500,326.90. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 231,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,445,684.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 115.8% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,250,997 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,295,301,000 after acquiring an additional 5,499,972 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 655.3% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,143,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $480,022,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859,981 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 775.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 509,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $127,233,000 after purchasing an additional 451,493 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 99.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 859,123 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $175,905,000 after buying an additional 427,561 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $99,503,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

About Sherwin-Williams

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The Sherwin-Williams Co engages in the manufacture and trade of paint and coatings. It operates through the following segments: America Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coating Group. The America Group segment manages the exclusive outlets for Sherwin-Williams branded paints, stains, supplies, equipment, and floor coverings.