Ellsworth Advisors LLC Has $1.28 Million Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $1,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 16.2% during the third quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 47,568 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,132,000 after acquiring an additional 6,639 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $38,444,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 149.0% in the third quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 9,695 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,473,000 after purchasing an additional 5,801 shares in the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at $4,517,000. Finally, Comerica Bank bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the second quarter valued at $27,192,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction 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. Insiders sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $347.33. 995,098 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,283,059. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.15. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $322.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.79. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $211.91 and a 52 week high of $348.37.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SHW. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $352.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $330.00 to $378.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.39.

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.