Financial Advocates Investment Management Reduces Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Financial Advocates Investment Management reduced its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,915 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,620,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,509,601,000 after buying an additional 184,979 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 10.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,302,120 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $799,595,000 after purchasing an additional 219,149 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,921,846 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $573,538,000 after purchasing an additional 53,487 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 132.8% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,609,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $480,291,000 after purchasing an additional 917,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.5% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,524,367 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $454,917,000 after buying an additional 238,031 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total transaction of $5,326,371.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE:SHW opened at $357.97 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1-year low of $240.00 and a 1-year high of $392.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $372.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $336.38. The firm has a market cap of $90.16 billion, a PE ratio of 35.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($0.19). Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 28.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on SHW shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $344.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.29.

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.