Montecito Bank & Trust Raises Stock Holdings in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Montecito Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,037 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 1,259 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Masco were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Masco by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,294,294 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $864,103,000 after purchasing an additional 194,297 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Masco by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,997,839 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $218,063,000 after acquiring an additional 520,555 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Masco by 0.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,950,880 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $241,825,000 after purchasing an additional 26,259 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Masco by 12.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,137,450 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $75,834,000 after purchasing an additional 122,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in Masco by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,093,202 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $72,884,000 after purchasing an additional 46,644 shares during the period. 93.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Masco Stock Up 1.1 %

MAS opened at $79.49 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.25. Masco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.81 and a fifty-two week high of $86.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Masco had a return on equity of 615.54% and a net margin of 10.54%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Masco’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Masco Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Masco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Masco’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MAS shares. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Masco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Masco from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Masco from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Masco from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Masco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.27.

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.