Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC. Acquires New Holdings in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,555 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Masco in the fourth quarter worth about $122,144,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Masco in the first quarter worth about $78,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Masco by 2.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,300,591 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,074,591,000 after acquiring an additional 721,117 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Masco by 967.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 415,406 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $32,767,000 after acquiring an additional 376,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Masco by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,574,976 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $373,411,000 after acquiring an additional 254,040 shares in the last quarter. 93.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MAS has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Masco from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Masco from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Masco from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Masco from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Masco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.57.

Masco Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE MAS traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,419,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,966,483. The company has a market capitalization of $17.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $68.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.17. Masco Co. has a 52 week low of $47.66 and a 52 week high of $78.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.76, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The construction company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. Masco had a return on equity of 865.37% and a net margin of 11.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Masco Co. will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Masco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Masco’s payout ratio is 28.43%.

Masco Company Profile

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.