Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 30,915 Shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,224,244 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 30,915 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Masco were worth $88,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Masco by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,129,771 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $371,265,000 after purchasing an additional 58,739 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Masco by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,250,400 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $235,881,000 after buying an additional 299,520 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 520,555 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Masco by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,821,629 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $204,766,000 after buying an additional 360,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Masco by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,103,820 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $152,569,000 after buying an additional 185,286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zelman & Associates upgraded Masco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Masco from $92.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Masco from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Masco from $82.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.10.

Masco Price Performance

MAS opened at $60.55 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.87 and a 200 day moving average of $74.72. The stock has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24. Masco Co. has a 52-week low of $56.55 and a 52-week high of $86.70.

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

Masco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Masco’s payout ratio is 33.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Masco

In other news, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.36, for a total value of $1,658,768.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,601,988.12. The trade was a 26.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Renee Straber sold 3,139 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.78, for a total value of $225,317.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 33,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,370,678.06. The trade was a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.