Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Key Points

• Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company by 13.6%, owning 10,966 shares valued at approximately $3.83 million after the sale.
• Several other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Capital Research Global Investors, increased their positions in Sherwin-Williams, reflecting a high level of institutional interest.
• Sherwin-Williams reported Q2 earnings of $3.38 per share, missing estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.79, with a yield of 0.9%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 13.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,966 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 1,732 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $3,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,082,544 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $7,711,004,000 after purchasing an additional 245,896 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,998,647 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,019,329,000 after buying an additional 960,724 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,725,827 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $926,590,000 after buying an additional 595,586 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,073,533 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $704,855,000 after buying an additional 728,798 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,826,498 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $620,881,000 after buying an additional 111,128 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SHW. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $420.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $390.00 to $378.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $383.33.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE SHW opened at $350.02 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $308.84 and a 1 year high of $400.42. The company has a market capitalization of $87.27 billion, a PE ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $345.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $348.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.76 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.31 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 66.91% and a net margin of 11.03%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.70 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Sherwin-Williams's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.35%.

Sherwin-Williams Company Profile

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.

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