Leavell Investment Management Inc. Sells 908 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 18.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,936 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 908 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $1,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 3.4% in the third quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,120 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 5,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,081,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Bensler LLC raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 3.0% during the third quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 22,831 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,714,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 4.3% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 949 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

NYSE:SHW opened at $386.67 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $374.21 and its 200 day moving average is $338.89. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $251.69 and a 12 month high of $392.57. The company has a market capitalization of $97.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.45% and a net margin of 11.09%. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on SHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $344.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $396.47.

Sherwin-Williams 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.