SHERWIN-WILLIAMS CO. $276 (New York symbol SHW; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 93.1 million; Market cap: $25.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.sherwin-williams.com) reported $3.15 billion of sales in the three months ended September 30, 2015, unchanged from a year earlier. Consumers bought more paint, offsetting lower sales to industrial clients and weakness in Latin America. Excluding exchange rates, sales gained 3.7%.
Earnings rose 14.8%, to $374.5 million from $326.2 million. Per-share profits gained 18.5%, to $3.97 from $3.35, on fewer shares outstanding. For all of 2015, the company expects to earn $10.75 to $11.00 a share. However, the stock is expensive at 25.4 times the midpoint of that range.
Sherwin-Williams is a hold.