Brokerages Set The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Target Price at $397.00

Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $397.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho set a $395.00 price target on Sherwin-Williams in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $423.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

NYSE:SHW opened at $360.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $346.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $352.61. Sherwin-Williams has a 1 year low of $291.77 and a 1 year high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,082,544 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,711,004,000 after buying an additional 245,896 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 21.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,657,536 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,023,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,341 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,588,755 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,239,715,000 after buying an additional 106,093 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,829,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,636,679,000 after buying an additional 96,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 2.2% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,409,209 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,539,652,000 after buying an additional 93,209 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

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.