National Pension Service Lowers Stock Position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

National Pension Service cut its position in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 402,577 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 42,882 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.19% of Masco worth $29,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAS. Sitrin Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Masco by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC now owns 88,445 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,418,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC purchased a new position in Masco during the fourth quarter valued at $367,000. Exchange Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Masco by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,252 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Masco during the fourth quarter valued at $664,000. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in Masco by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 102,356 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,428,000 after purchasing an additional 51,867 shares in the last quarter. 93.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Masco

In other Masco news, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of Masco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.36, for a total transaction of $1,658,768.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,267 shares in the company, valued at $4,601,988.12. This trade represents a 26.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Masco from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Masco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Masco from $80.00 to $83.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Masco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Masco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.32.

Masco Price Performance

Masco stock opened at $75.10 on Friday. Masco Co. has a 12-month low of $63.81 and a 12-month high of $86.70. The stock has a market cap of $15.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Masco had a net margin of 10.50% and a return on equity of 838.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Masco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.98%.

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.