Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 5,000 Shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 25.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Masco were worth $1,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Masco by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,294,294 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $864,103,000 after purchasing an additional 194,297 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Masco by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,997,839 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $218,063,000 after purchasing an additional 520,555 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Masco by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,950,880 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $241,825,000 after purchasing an additional 26,259 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Masco by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 995,950 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $83,600,000 after buying an additional 14,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Masco by 956.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 989,640 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $83,070,000 after buying an additional 895,950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Masco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Masco from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Masco from $80.00 to $83.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Masco from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.04.

Masco Stock Up 1.5 %

Masco stock opened at $78.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.25. Masco Co. has a 1-year low of $63.81 and a 1-year high of $86.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $76.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Masco had a return on equity of 615.54% and a net margin of 10.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Masco Co. will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Masco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Masco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

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.