Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,619 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 964,286 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 2,619 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.38% of Sherwin-Williams worth $336,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,359,747,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 41,717.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,636,304 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $571,381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,632,391 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 47.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,998,647 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,019,329,000 after purchasing an additional 960,724 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,073,533 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $704,855,000 after purchasing an additional 728,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at $230,829,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho set a $395.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $391.31.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $352.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $350.52 and a 200 day moving average of $348.10. The company has a market capitalization of $88.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.18. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $293.56 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 71.86% and a net margin of 11.63%. The business had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Sherwin-Williams's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.87%.

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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