Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 13,600 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Masco by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 78,847 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,296,000 after acquiring an additional 9,189 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Masco in the fourth quarter worth $206,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Masco in the fourth quarter worth $3,969,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Masco in the fourth quarter worth $3,288,000. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Masco in the fourth quarter worth $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Masco from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Masco from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Masco from $65.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Masco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Masco from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.07.

Masco Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE MAS opened at $69.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 30.05, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.76. Masco Co. has a twelve month low of $47.66 and a twelve month high of $78.94. The stock has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.25.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.06. Masco had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 3,111.50%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Masco Co. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This is a boost from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Masco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.93%.

Insider Activity at Masco

In other Masco news, VP Richard Allan Marshall sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total transaction of $385,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,465 shares in the company, valued at $806,328.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Masco news, VP Richard Allan Marshall sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total transaction of $385,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,465 shares in the company, valued at $806,328.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Kenneth G. Cole sold 36,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.65, for a total transaction of $2,703,076.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 58,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,395,765.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 83,762 shares of company stock worth $6,337,597. Company 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.