5 Best Hardware Stocks To Buy Now

2. The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 63

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) develops, manufactures, distributes, and sells paints, coatings, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers across the globe. The stock is one of the best hardware stocks to buy now. The company is a clear leader in its industry and has a strong cash position. According to the company’s balance sheet, The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) has free cash flows of $938.2 million.

On October 27, BMO Capital analyst John McNulty raised his price target on The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) to $251 from $244 and reiterated a Market Perform rating on the shares. On December 2, JPMorgan analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas raised his price target on The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) to $260 from $250 and maintained an Overweight rating on the shares.

At the end of third quarter of 2022, 63 hedge funds held stakes in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) worth $2.83 billion. This is compared to 52 positions a quarter ago with stakes worth $1.86 billion. The hedge fund sentiment for the stock is positive. As of September 30, D1 Capital Partners is the largest shareholder in the company and has a position worth $409.2 million.

Here is what ClearBridge Investments had to say about The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in its third-quarter 2022 investor letter:

“The third strategy is buying growth companies with idiosyncratic or stock-specific catalysts unrelated to the direction of the market like The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW). The stock is an example of a company we categorize in our cyclical bucket that should experience a step change in earnings over the medium to long term with solid execution and its ability to pass through price increases. While relative performance has been challenged by binary decisions around a handful of mega cap technology stocks, we’re entering a lower-growth period in which we’ve historically delivered strong relative results from our balanced approach.”