First Interstate Bank Sells 49 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

First Interstate Bank lowered its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,491 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 49 shares during the period. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,256,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,421,518,000 after acquiring an additional 187,478 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 65.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,427,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,384,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,102 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,180,068 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,229,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747,586 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,179,547 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $936,902,000 after acquiring an additional 73,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,795,775 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $742,334,000 after acquiring an additional 321,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total value of $586,881.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,029,710.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.70, for a total value of $586,881.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,029,710.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on SHW. Argus increased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $330.00 to $378.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (up from $270.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised Sherwin-Williams from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $352.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.94.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

NYSE:SHW traded down $5.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $308.35. 1,440,697 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,402,189. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $328.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $296.45. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $221.76 and a 52 week high of $348.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. The firm has a market cap of $78.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

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.