Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stock Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company $SHW

Key Points

• Franklin Resources trimmed its stake in The Sherwin‑Williams Company by 1.2% in Q3, selling 17,189 shares and now holds 1,408,059 shares valued at about $487.6 million (≈0.57% of SHW).
• Other major investors (including Vanguard, Geode, DZ BANK and a new Norges Bank position) increased or added large holdings, leaving institutional ownership at 77.67%; analysts maintain a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a $388.21 average price target.
• Sherwin‑Williams beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.23 vs. $2.16 expected) with revenue up 5.6% year‑over‑year and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.80 (annualized $3.20, ~1.0% yield).

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,408,059 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 17,189 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.57% of Sherwin-Williams worth $487,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,637,705 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $7,838,532,000 after buying an additional 309,153 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,111,157 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,746,222,000 after buying an additional 90,482 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 9.9% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,887,808 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,334,918,000 after buying an additional 351,453 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the second quarter worth approximately $1,296,565,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,432,977 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,188,698,000 after acquiring an additional 11,560 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHW has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group set a $420.00 price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $390.00 price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Vertical Research raised Sherwin-Williams from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $371.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $388.21.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $322.56 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $352.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $345.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a market capitalization of $79.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.25. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $308.84 and a 52-week high of $379.65.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.07. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 65.26%. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.80 dividend. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Sherwin-Williams's payout ratio is 31.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,513 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.47, for a total value of $915,913.11. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,045 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,661,101.15. The trade was a 20.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.50, for a total transaction of $1,069,872.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,928,717.50. This represents a 35.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Profile

Sherwin-Williams NYSE: SHW is a global manufacturer and distributor of paints, coatings and related products. Founded in 1866 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company supplies a broad range of coatings for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Its product offering includes architectural paints and stains, industrial and protective coatings, automotive finishes, and a variety of sundry products such as primers, sealants and specialty treatments used by professionals and consumers.

The company sells through multiple channels, including a large network of company-operated retail paint stores that serve professional contractors and do-it-yourself consumers, as well as through distributors and mass retailers.

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