GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 773 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 19.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $1,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,836,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $7,422,932,000 after purchasing an additional 138,170 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $2,239,715,000 after buying an additional 106,093 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 96,571 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,316,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,467,138,000 after buying an additional 86,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth $1,359,747,000. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company's stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE:SHW traded down $2.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $342.97. 1,799,767 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,717,914. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $349.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $348.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.21. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $292.33 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.77.

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

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Sherwin-Williams's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Barclays dropped their target price 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. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $380.00 price target (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $395.00 price objective on Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $391.31.

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.