Creative Planning Buys 726 Shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Creative Planning raised its stake in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,092 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Masco were worth $3,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Masco in the second quarter valued at about $82,363,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Masco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $78,181,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Masco by 66.5% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,823,934 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $121,581,000 after acquiring an additional 728,690 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Masco by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,300,591 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,074,591,000 after acquiring an additional 721,117 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Masco by 55.8% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,538,952 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $121,391,000 after acquiring an additional 551,203 shares in the last quarter. 93.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MAS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Masco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Masco from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Masco from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Masco from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Masco from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Masco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.58.

Insider Transactions at Masco

In other Masco news, VP Kenneth G. Cole sold 37,814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.32, for a total transaction of $2,961,592.48. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 36,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,896,273.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Masco Stock Performance

NYSE MAS opened at $82.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.24. Masco Co. has a twelve month low of $47.66 and a twelve month high of $84.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.18.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The construction company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.02. Masco had a return on equity of 602.39% and a net margin of 11.59%. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Masco Co. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Masco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. Masco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.43%.

Masco Company 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.