Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Purchases Shares of 1,010 The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 44,853.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 6,728 shares during the last quarter. Lee Financial Co bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total transaction of $586,881.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,029,710.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total value of $767,859.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $10,340,237. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 target price (up from $270.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Northcoast Research raised Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $330.00 to $378.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.39.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 1.4 %

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $346.95 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $88.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $210.92 and a fifty-two week high of $347.71.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.01. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.72% and a net margin of 10.36%. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%.

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.