Sentry Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 842 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Masco were worth $61,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Masco by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,031 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Masco by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 44,940 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,756,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in Masco by 1.9% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Masco by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 901 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Masco by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 8,089 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MAS. Oppenheimer upgraded 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. StockNews.com cut Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Masco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Masco from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded Masco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.32.

Masco Stock Down 1.8 %

MAS stock opened at $74.70 on Friday. Masco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.81 and a fifty-two week high of $86.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.25.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Masco Co. will post 4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. This is an increase from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Masco’s payout ratio is 32.98%.

Insider Transactions at Masco

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

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.