** Sherwin-Williams SHW.N shares essentially unchanged at $364.29 ahead of Q4 results due before the opening bell on Thurs

** The paint maker is expected to post Q4 EPS of $2.06 on revenue of $5.32 bln, per LSEG data, vs yr-ago results of $1.81 per share and $5.25 bln in revenue

** SHW has met or beaten EPS estimates in six of past eight qtrs, with most recent miss in Q3 2024

** Of the 29 analysts that cover Sherwin-Williams Co, the breakdown of recommendations are 16 "strong buy" or "buy," 12 "hold" and 1 "sell" or "strong sell" rating

** Morgan Stanley on Tuesday maintained its "overweight" rating but reduced its 2025 and 2026 EPS estimates and lowered its price target to $405 from $450 per share, citing still high mortgage rates, difficult weather year-to-date and FX headwinds

** Median price target of $402.50 is down from $405 a month ago but up from $400 on Oct. 29

** SHW shares up 7.1% YTD vs 5.5% climb in Dow Industrials .DJI and 5.7% rise in S&P 500 materials .SPLRCM

** SHW options imply an 6.3% swing for the shares, in either direction, by Friday, per Trade Alert data; the stock has logged an avg move of 3.7% on the day of results over the last eight qtrs

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak, additional reporting by Saqib Ahmed)

((charles.mikolajczak@tr.com; @ChuckMik;))