The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.79 Per Share

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.79 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72.

Sherwin-Williams has increased its dividend by an average of 9.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 47 consecutive years. Sherwin-Williams has a payout ratio of 21.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Sherwin-Williams to earn $13.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.86 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.5%.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE:SHW traded down $1.61 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $351.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,394,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,586,247. Sherwin-Williams has a 1-year low of $282.09 and a 1-year high of $400.42. The firm has a market cap of $88.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $352.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $365.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $400.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.