12 Best Safe Dividend Stocks for 2025

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

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 78

5-Year Average Payout Ratio: 28%

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) is an American paint and coating manufacturing company, based in Ohio. The company specializes in the manufacturing and production of related products. It is a strong dividend payer, having raised its payouts for 45 consecutive years. The company’s quarterly dividend comes in at $0.715 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.85%, as of January 13.

In the third quarter of 2024, The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) posted mixed earnings, with revenues reaching $6.16 billion, a modest year-over-year increase of 0.75%. Sales in the Consumer Brands Group declined due to continued weakness in the North American DIY market. However, the Paint Stores Group saw growth, fueled by a high single-digit rise in protective and marine product sales. Investments in residential repainting helped maintain mid-single-digit growth, despite the tough market conditions.

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) is up by 12% in the past 12 months. Its growth was also highlighted by Parnassus Investments in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) gained on optimism that lower interest rates would spur a resurgence in home renovations, leading to higher sales of its paint products. The company also hosted an investor day where it gave medium-term financial targets that were well received by investors.”

As a consistent dividend grower, The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) holds a strong cash position. In the first nine months of the year, the company generated an operating cash flow of $2.22 billion and returned $1.97 billion to shareholders through dividends.

Insider Monkey’s database of Q3 2024 showed that 78 hedge funds held stakes in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW), up from 76 in the previous quarter. These stakes are worth over $4.63 billion in total. Among these hedge funds, Viking Global was the company’s leading stakeholder in Q3.

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