3,898 Shares in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Bought by Fiducient Advisors LLC

Fiducient Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,898 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,325,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SHW. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 43,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $14,649,000 after purchasing an additional 3,733 shares in the last quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 5,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Seeds Investor LLC purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $236,000. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $1,456,000. Finally, Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth about $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:SHW opened at $337.11 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $282.09 and a 1 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $347.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $360.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.26.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.79 dividend. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. This trade represents a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SHW shares. Zelman & Associates raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $423.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price target (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $393.31.

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.