CX Institutional Buys 349 Shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

CX Institutional increased its holdings in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,842 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Masco were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Masco by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 901 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in shares of Masco by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 4,165 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Masco by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 7,914 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Masco by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 12,065 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Masco by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,472 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 93.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MAS. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Masco from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Masco from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Masco from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays set a $71.00 target price on Masco and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Masco from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.63.

Masco Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE MAS opened at $61.83 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.66. Masco Co. has a one year low of $56.55 and a one year high of $86.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.05). Masco had a return on equity of 838.32% and a net margin of 10.50%. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Masco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Masco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.88%.

Masco 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.