King Luther Capital Management Corp Grows Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 253,292 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 5,486 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 0.10% of Sherwin-Williams worth $86,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,733,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,799,196,000 after purchasing an additional 58,463 shares during the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,171,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $738,261,000 after purchasing an additional 114,591 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,724,746 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $586,293,000 after purchasing an additional 187,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,472,073 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $500,402,000 after purchasing an additional 50,983 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $358.11 on Tuesday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a one year low of $282.09 and a one year high of $400.42. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $353.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $365.99. The company has a market cap of $90.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 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 company earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This trade represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $423.00 price objective (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Zelman & Associates raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.13.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.