Forte Capital LLC ADV Purchases 275 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Forte Capital LLC ADV increased its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Lee Financial Co purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter valued at $32,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter worth about $33,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $390.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $317.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $340.00 to $334.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $341.39.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

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

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 2.2 %

SHW stock traded up $6.84 on Friday, hitting $311.30. 2,027,799 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,681,363. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $327.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $301.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.78. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $221.76 and a 12-month high of $348.37. The stock has a market cap of $78.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.18.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 73.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

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.