Balanced Wealth Group LLC Reduces Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Balanced Wealth Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,761 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SHW. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,047,174 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $399,675,000 after acquiring an additional 10,709 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 5.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,018,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 59.5% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at approximately $500,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of Sherwin-Williams 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 trade represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $423.00 price target (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Berenberg Bank raised Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.13.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:SHW opened at $350.21 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $353.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $365.85. The company has a market capitalization of $88.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. 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 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $1.81 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.95%.

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.