Financial Comparison: Sherwin-Williams (SHW) and Its Competitors

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) is one of 295 public companies in the “Chemicals” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Sherwin-Williams to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Sherwin-Williams and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sherwin-Williams	10.74%	69.51%	11.04%
Sherwin-Williams Competitors	-61.58%	1.07%	-1.45%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.7% of Sherwin-Williams shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.5% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Sherwin-Williams shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.9% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Sherwin-Williams and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sherwin-Williams	0	12	15	0	2.56
Sherwin-Williams Competitors	3241	12196	14114	516	2.40

Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus price target of $377.29, suggesting a potential upside of 7.12%. As a group, “Chemicals” companies have a potential upside of 6.44%. Given Sherwin-Williams’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Sherwin-Williams is more favorable than its rivals.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Sherwin-Williams and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sherwin-Williams	$24.91 billion	$2.57 billion	32.37
Sherwin-Williams Competitors	$6.42 billion	$222.31 million	-3.58

Sherwin-Williams has higher revenue and earnings than its rivals. Sherwin-Williams is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Sherwin-Williams pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Sherwin-Williams pays out 29.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Chemicals” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.1% and pay out 108.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Sherwin-Williams has increased its dividend for 48 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Sherwin-Williams has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sherwin-Williams’ rivals have a beta of 0.94, indicating that their average stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Sherwin-Williams beats its rivals on 12 of the 15 factors compared.

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. The Paint Stores Group segment offers architectural paints and coatings, and protective and marine products, as well as OEM product finishes and related products for architectural and industrial paint contractors, and do-it-yourself homeowners. The Consumer Brands Group segment supplies a portfolio of branded and private-label architectural paints, stains, varnishes, industrial products, wood finishes products, wood preservatives, applicators, corrosion inhibitors, aerosols, caulks, and adhesives to retailers, including home centers and hardware stores, and dedicated dealers and distributors. The Performance Coatings Group segment develops and sells industrial coatings for wood finishing and general industrial applications, automotive refinish products, protective and marine coatings, coil coatings, packaging coatings, and performance-based resins and colorants. It serves retailers, dealers, jobbers, licensees, and other third-party distributors through its branches and direct sales staff, as well as through outside sales representatives. The company has operations primarily in the North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The Sherwin-Williams Company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.