Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) Shares Bought by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 717,907 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 67,191 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.33% of Masco worth $52,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MAS. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Masco by 49.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 883,859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,192,000 after acquiring an additional 291,658 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Masco by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,463 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Masco by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 703 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Masco by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,022 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Masco by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,191 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MAS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Masco in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price (down from $91.00) on shares of Masco in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Loop Capital set a $62.00 target price on shares of Masco and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Masco from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays set a $71.00 target price on shares of Masco and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,601,988.12. This trade represents a 26.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Renee Straber sold 3,139 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.78, for a total value of $225,317.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 33,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,370,678.06. This represents 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 company insiders.

Masco Trading Down 4.4%

Shares of NYSE:MAS opened at $62.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.23. Masco Co. has a 1 year low of $56.55 and a 1 year high of $86.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74.

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

Masco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Masco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.88%.

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.