Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,412 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 13,296 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 259.6% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 105,772 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $35,955,000 after purchasing an additional 76,361 shares during the last quarter. Saybrook Capital NC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Saybrook Capital NC now owns 56,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $19,289,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at $295,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at $677,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SHW shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:SHW opened at $353.78 on Wednesday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a one year low of $282.09 and a one year high of $400.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $353.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $365.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 29.95%.

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.