Updating Sherwin-Williams Co., Restaurant Brands International Inc., and Dun & Bradstreet Corp.

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SHERWIN-WILLIAMS CO. $373 (New York symbol SHW; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 93.6 million; Market cap: $34.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 0.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.sherwin-williams.com) completed its all-cash acquisition of rival paint maker Valspar Corp. on June 1, 2017. The combined firm is the world’s largest paint maker, with annual sales of $15.8 billion. If you include Valspar’s debt, the total price was $11.3 billion. Merging the various operations should cut $320 million from Sherwin’s annual costs by the end of the third year. In the three months ended March 31, 2018, sales rose 43.6%, to $4.0 billion from $2.8 billion a year earlier. If you exclude Valspar, sales rose 4.9%. Earnings per share also jumped 36.8%, to $3.57 from $2.61. The stock now trades at a high 24.5 times its likely 2018 earnings of $15.20 a share. That adds risk, particularly if the benefits of the acquisition take longer than expected to materialize. Sherwin-Williams is a hold. RESTAURANT BRANDS…