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Forensic Analysis · Retail / Consumer Discretionary · as of Nov 8, 2026

Sherwin Williams Co (SHW)

A forensic read on Sherwin Williams Co built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

D · Weak — demands caution
Forensic grade
Distress
Financial health
1.0
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
1
Forensic signals
59.4%
ROE
2.1%
Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

Sherwin Williams Co earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 1.0, placing it in the Distress zone. 1 forensic signal was flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.

What the filings flag

92% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns. Returned $2.4B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 92% of free cash flow. Right at the limit of what free cash flow covers — little room before it's funded by debt or the balance sheet. That ratio has been CLIMBING toward the limit — 78% of free cash flow two years back — not just sitting there. Counting the $124M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 97%.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$23.57B
Revenue Growth YoY+2.1%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+1.1%
Net Margin10.9%
Free Cash Flow$2.65B
Return on Equity59.4%
Debt / Equity2.36x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Nov 8, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.

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