Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) Rating Lowered to “Neutral” at Citigroup

Citigroup lowered shares of Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has $385.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $405.00.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on SHW. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sherwin-Williams from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price target (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $395.00 price objective on Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.67.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 5.7%

NYSE SHW opened at $335.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $348.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $351.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. Sherwin-Williams has a 12 month low of $292.27 and a 12 month high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. The business had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 29.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 583.3% in the first quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC now owns 82 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

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.