Brokerages Set The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Target Price at $320.39

Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $320.39.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SHW shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $352.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $295.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $346.00 to $341.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $312.00 to $402.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE:SHW traded up $2.28 on Tuesday, reaching $334.58. 789,944 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,397,198. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $85.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.15. Sherwin-Williams has a 52 week low of $221.76 and a 52 week high of $348.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $327.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.64.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.01. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sherwin-Williams will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.715 dividend. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams's previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Sherwin-Williams's payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd D. Rea sold 2,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.54, for a total transaction of $767,859.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,925,014.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,435,960 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,685,876,000 after purchasing an additional 179,274 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 65.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,427,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,384,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146,102 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,180,068 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,229,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747,586 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,179,547 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $936,902,000 after purchasing an additional 73,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,197,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,351 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company's stock.

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.