ELCO Management Co. LLC Sells 628 Shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

ELCO Management Co. LLC lessened its position in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,141 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 628 shares during the period. ELCO Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Masco were worth $301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MAS. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Masco in the 3rd quarter valued at $239,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Masco by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 243,014 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $20,399,000 after purchasing an additional 49,588 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Masco by 41.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 21,055 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,767,000 after purchasing an additional 6,154 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Masco during the third quarter worth approximately $1,435,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Masco by 81.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 112,835 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,471,000 after buying an additional 50,512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MAS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Masco in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Masco from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $96.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Masco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of Masco in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.50.

Masco Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of MAS opened at $58.66 on Wednesday. Masco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $54.05 and a fifty-two week high of $86.70. The firm has a market cap of $12.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $72.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Masco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.98%.

Insider Transactions at Masco

In other news, VP Renee Straber sold 3,139 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.78, for a total value of $225,317.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 33,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,370,678.06. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 owns 60,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,601,988.12. This trade represents a 26.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.