Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 13,659 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 313,677 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 13,659 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.12% of Sherwin-Williams worth $106,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares during the period. Burney Co. grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,871,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,498,000 after purchasing an additional 4,439 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,477,000 after purchasing an additional 286,791 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $339.77 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $85.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $282.09 and a 12-month high of $400.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $353.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $363.86.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued 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 net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 29.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on SHW. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $423.00 price objective (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 target price (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.13.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.