The Sherwin-Williams Company Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.79 (NYSE:SHW)

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 16th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of 0.79 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th.

Sherwin-Williams has increased its dividend by an average of 9.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 48 years. Sherwin-Williams has a payout ratio of 23.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Sherwin-Williams to earn $13.37 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.6%.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE SHW opened at $355.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $89.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.25. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $341.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $355.25. Sherwin-Williams has a twelve month low of $282.09 and a twelve month high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SHW. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price target (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $423.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.00.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams 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 transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This trade represents a 34.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Sherwin-Williams stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 73.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,545 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

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.