Sifting through countless of stocks in the Chemicals industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in RPM International Inc. or The Sherwin-Williams Company because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how RPM International Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About RPM International Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company

RPM International Inc. provides specialty chemicals for the construction, industrial, specialty, and consumer markets. It operates through CPG, PCG, and Consumer segments. The company offers waterproofing, coating, and traditional roofing systems; sealants, air barriers, tapes, and foams; residential home weatherization systems; roofing, and building maintenance services; sealing and bonding, subfloor preparation, glazing solutions; resin flooring systems, terrazzo, polyurethane, MMA waterproof, epoxy floor paint and coatings, concrete repair, and protection products, traffic deck coatings, and decorative concrete; fire stopping and intumescent coatings, and adhesive and sealant solutions; and rolled asphalt roofing materials and chemical admixtures. It also provides concrete and masonry admixtures, concrete fibers, cement grinding aids, cement performance enhancers, curing and sealing compounds, structural grouts and mortars, epoxy adhesives, polyurethane foams, floor hardeners and toppings, joint fillers, industrial and architectural coatings, decorative color/stains/stamps, restoration materials, insulated building cladding materials, specialty finishes, metal and composite materials, and exterior insulating and finishing systems; insulated concrete form and industrial concrete panel wall, engineered buck framing, and ICF bracing systems; and firestopping, flooring systems, weatherproofing solutions, and restoration services equipment. In addition, it offers corrosion control, fireproofing, edible, and factory applied industrial coatings; infrastructure repair and raised-flooring systems, fiberglass reinforced plastic structures, preservation products, specialty glazes, and food industry coatings; and rust-preventative, special purpose, and decorative paints, caulks, sealants, primers, contact cement, cleaners, woodcare coatings, abrasives, colorant, and other consumer products. The company was incorporated in 1947 and is headquartered in Medina, Ohio.

The Sherwin-Williams Company engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paint, coatings, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial and retail customers. The company operates through three segments: Paint Stores Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group. The Paint Stores Group segment offers architectural paint and coatings; protective and marine products; and OEM product finishes and related products for architectural and industrial paint contractors, and do-it-yourself homeowners under the Sherwin-Williams brand. The Consumer Brands Group segment supplies a portfolio of branded and private-label architectural paints, stains, varnishes, industrial products, wood finishes products, wood preservatives, applicators, corrosion inhibitors, aerosols, caulks, and adhesives to retailers, including home centers and hardware stores, and dedicated dealers and distributors. The Performance Coatings Group segment develops and sells industrial coatings for wood finishing and general industrial applications; automotive refinish products; protective and marine coatings; coil coatings; packaging coatings; and performance-based resins and colorants. This segment serves retailers, dealers, jobbers, licensees, and other third-party distributors. The company operates in North America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The Sherwin-Williams Company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

Latest Chemicals and RPM International Inc., The Sherwin-Williams Company Stock News

As of September 2, 2026, RPM International Inc. had a $13.2 billion market capitalization, compared to the Chemicals median of $4.2 million. RPM International Inc.’s stock is down 1.1% in 2026, down 2.7% in the previous five trading days and down 15.96% in the past year.

Currently, RPM International Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 20.0. RPM International Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $7.9 billion with a 8.4% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 7.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $6.005 per share for the current fiscal year. RPM International Inc. currently has a 2.1% dividend yield.

As of September 2, 2026, The Sherwin-Williams Company had a $79.9 billion market cap, putting it in the 96th percentile of all stocks. The Sherwin-Williams Company’s stock is up 2.3% in 2026, down 4% in the previous five trading days and down 8.22% in the past year.

Currently, The Sherwin-Williams Company’s price-earnings ratio is 30.6. The Sherwin-Williams Company’s trailing 12-month revenue is $24.4 billion with a 11.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 7.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $12.101 per share for the current fiscal year. The Sherwin-Williams Company currently has a 1.0% dividend yield.

How We Compare RPM International Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at RPM International Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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RPM International Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
RPM International Inc.	RPM	D
The Sherwin-Williams Company	SHW	F

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

RPM International Inc. has a Value Score of 39, which is Expensive. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a Value Score of 20, which is Ultra Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither RPM International Inc. or The Sherwin-Williams Company has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if RPM International Inc. or The Sherwin-Williams Company is the better investment when it comes to value.

RPM International Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
RPM International Inc.	RPM	A
The Sherwin-Williams Company	SHW	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

RPM International Inc. has a Growth Score of 83, which is Very Strong. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a Growth Score of 83, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Growth Grade breakdown above, both RPM International Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s upward growth, further research should be conducted into both companies’ other financial metrics before deciding whether to invest.

RPM International Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
RPM International Inc.	RPM	D
The Sherwin-Williams Company	SHW	C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

RPM International Inc. has a Momentum Score of 29, which is Weak. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a Momentum Score of 41, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither RPM International Inc. or The Sherwin-Williams Company has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if RPM International Inc. or The Sherwin-Williams Company is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Other RPM International Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company Grades

In addition to Value, Momentum and Growth, A+ Investor also provides grades for Estimate Revisions and Quality.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether RPM International Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, RPM International Inc. or The Sherwin-Williams Company Stock?

Overall, RPM International Inc. stock has a Value Score of 39, Growth Score of 83 and Momentum Score of 29.

The Sherwin-Williams Company stock has a Value Score of 20, Growth Score of 83 and Momentum Score of 41.

Comparing RPM International Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.