Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Lowers Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 1,939 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $10,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SHW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,836,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $7,422,932,000 after buying an additional 138,170 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 106,093 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 96,571 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,316,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,467,138,000 after acquiring an additional 86,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at $1,359,747,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $351.80. 953,988 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,720,769. 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 market cap of $88.16 billion, a PE ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $351.43 and a 200-day moving average of $347.96. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $298.82 and a 12 month high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 71.86% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 (DPR) is 29.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SHW shares. Citigroup downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $405.00 to $385.00 in a report on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $398.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price objective on 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, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $391.94.

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.