Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company $SHW

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 199,869 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 35,074 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $69,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2,353.9% during the 3rd quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 29,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $10,162,000 after purchasing an additional 28,153 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at approximately $12,473,000. Viking Global Investors LP raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 47.2% in the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,881,091 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $997,607,000 after buying an additional 923,341 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 8.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 65,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $22,557,000 after buying an additional 4,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 151.3% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 73,466 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,438,000 after buying an additional 44,230 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.50, for a total transaction of $1,069,872.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,928,717.50. The trade was a 35.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.47, for a total value of $915,913.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,661,101.15. The trade was a 20.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

SHW opened at $319.62 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $352.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $344.21. The firm has a market cap of $79.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.25. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $308.84 and a twelve month high of $379.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 65.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, January 19th. UBS Group set a $420.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $390.00 price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.21.

Sherwin-Williams Profile

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) is a global manufacturer and distributor of paints, coatings and related products. Founded in 1866 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company supplies a broad range of coatings for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Its product offering includes architectural paints and stains, industrial and protective coatings, automotive finishes, and a variety of sundry products such as primers, sealants and specialty treatments used by professionals and consumers.

The company sells through multiple channels, including a large network of company-operated retail paint stores that serve professional contractors and do-it-yourself consumers, as well as through distributors and mass retailers.