Achmea Investment Management B.V. Purchases 8,150 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 42.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,319 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,150 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.'s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $9,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,836,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $7,422,932,000 after buying an additional 138,170 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,588,755 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,239,715,000 after acquiring an additional 106,093 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 96,571 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,316,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,467,138,000 after purchasing an additional 86,268 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,359,747,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $289.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $380.00 price target (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Sherwin-Williams from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $350.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $391.31.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Sherwin-Williams stock traded up $12.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $355.43. The stock had a trading volume of 2,308,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,720,275. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock's 50 day moving average is $349.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $348.01. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $292.33 and a 1 year high of $400.42. The stock has a market cap of $89.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.21.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 71.86% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Sherwin-Williams's payout ratio is 29.87%.

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.