Blair William & Co. IL Sells 3,754 Shares of Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS)

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its position in shares of Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) by 34.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,152 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,754 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Masco were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Masco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,157,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Masco by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 12,809 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 4,418 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Masco by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 17,631 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,281,000 after buying an additional 749 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Masco by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 30,664 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after buying an additional 1,939 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Masco by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 92,403 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,706,000 after buying an additional 8,146 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MAS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Masco in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Masco from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Masco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Masco and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective (up from $62.00) on shares of Masco in a report on Monday, August 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.13.

Masco Stock Performance

Shares of MAS stock opened at $68.94 on Tuesday. Masco Corporation has a one year low of $56.55 and a one year high of $86.70. The stock has a market cap of $14.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.63, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The construction company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. Masco had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 1,519.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Masco Corporation will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Masco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Masco’s payout ratio is currently 32.89%.

About Masco

Masco Corporation designs, manufactures, and distributes home improvement and building products in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company's Plumbing Products segment offers faucets, showerheads, handheld showers, valves, bath hardware and accessories, bathing units, shower bases and enclosures, sinks, toilets, acrylic tubs, shower trays, spas, exercise pools, and fitness systems; brass, copper, and composite plumbing system components; connected water products; thermoplastic solutions, extruded plastic profiles, specialized fabrications, and PEX tubing products; and other non-decorative plumbing products.