7,156 Shares in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Purchased by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,156 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,433,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,047,174 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $399,675,000 after buying an additional 10,709 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 7,428 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,835,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at about $234,000. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 6.7% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 5,978 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,282,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 14.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 8,980 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.7 %

SHW stock opened at $339.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $282.09 and a twelve month high of $400.42. The company has a market cap of $85.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.21, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $353.59 and a 200-day moving average of $363.86.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.13.

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.