Things That Will Help Drive Sherwin-Williams Stock Higher In 2015

In a report published Wednesday, Credit Suisse analysts maintained an Outperform rating on Sherwin-Williams Co SHW, while raising the price target from $300 to $305, after a meeting with the company's CEO Chris Connor, CFO Sean Hennessy and Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications Bob Wells.

There are a number of factors that could drive the company's stock higher in 2015 and over the next few years. These include:

• Raw Materials: "SHW should see a reasonable amount of raw material relief as we move later in the year from petrochemicals and TiO2. That said, in the event of raw material inflation this could drive even further valuation creation long term as it facilitates greater pricing," the analysts said.
• LOW: Sherwin-Williams launched an HGTV platform at Lowe's Companies, Inc. LOW. Although this is still in the early stages, it could add $220-$330 million in revenue "with the potential for that to as much as double if SHW is able to leverage their platform/relationship to drive further shelf space," the analysts wrote.
• SHW aka ATM: Sherwin-Williams' already healthy cash flow could surge more than 30 percent over the next couple of years and be directed toward M&A and shareholders.
• Volume Growth: "SHW is seeing solid volume growth driven by strong new home sales, reasonable existing home turnover, solid growth in nonresidential as well as help from SHW's new stores and Comex US platform," the report added.