Sherwin drops Mexican takeover

Article Excerpt

SHERWIN-WILLIAMS CO. $202 (New York symbol SHW; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 100.3 million; Market cap: $20.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.sherwin-williams.com) has dropped its $2.3-billion offer to buy Mexican paint maker Comex, as regulators seemed unlikely to approve the deal. Sherwin did purchase Comex’s U.S. and Canadian operations and stores for $165 million in September 2013. The new operations increased Sherwin’s revenue by 9.2% in the first quarter of 2014, to $2.4 billion from $2.2 billion a year earlier. However, costs to integrate the new stores cut its earnings by 0.6%, to $115.5 million from $116.2 million. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 2.7%, to $1.14 from $1.11. The company will likely earn $8.72 a share in 2014, up 20.1% from 2013, but the stock trades at a high 22.7 times that forecast. Sherwin-Williams is a hold. hold…