Stronger demand for materials and a better-than-expected housing market could lift Sherwin-Williams , according to BMO Capital Markets. The firm upgraded the paint maker to outperform from market perform Monday, with a $275 per share price target. BMO’s forecast implies just above 11% upside from the stock’s $247.04 close Friday. Sherwin-Williams stock has gained more than 4% year to date. SHW YTD mountain Sherwin-Williams stock has ticked up roughly 4% from the start of the year. BMO analyst John McNulty said a slightly warmer housing market underpins the firm’s upgrade to earnings per share in 2024 and 2025. He added that Sherwin-Williams could add 40 basis points to pretax margins as well as 80 basis points to EBITDA margins, which will “likely prove to be conservative given the price/raws dynamic.” “With growing conviction in our above consensus estimates and a belief that there may be upside to our estimates given numerous tailwinds (raws in the near-term, housing in the longer term) that could drive solid momentum in earnings and the stock, we feel the risk/reward was compelling relative to other names in the chemical space (where numbers may be coming down), and as such we are raising our rating to Outperform,” McNulty said. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
