AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Decreases Stock Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,299 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 6,562 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $23,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 119 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $350.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $423.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $397.00.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:SHW traded down $4.48 on Thursday, reaching $357.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,438,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,784,414. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $345.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $353.34. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $282.09 and a 12-month high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.42 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is 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.