Masco Management Will Be 'Opportunistic' With Share Buybacks

Masco Corporation

management met with Credit Suisse analysts earlier this week to discuss operational improvements. According to an investor note, management credited turnarounds in profitability less to cost-cutting measures, and more to a shift in company culture. President & CEO Keith Allman has instituted a decentralized, data-driven approach which incentivizes the heads of specific units based on key performance indicators, Credit Suisse noted. This seems to have helped the Cabinets segment in particular to achieve profitability, but the company is expected to look aggressively for opportunities to attack issues related to revenue growth and cost efficiency. Shareholders can expect Masco to be opportunistic with share buybacks in periods of downtrends in the share price. Masco still is authorized to repurchase 24.6 million shares and Credit Suisse forecasted as much as $480 million to be spent on buybacks this year or next. The analysts maintained an Outperform rating and $34 target price on Masco's shares, which implied a 9.9 percent upside to the closing price Thursday.