Hantz Financial Services Inc. Acquires Shares of 9,266 Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 9,266 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Masco by 2.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,300,591 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,074,591,000 after buying an additional 721,117 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P grew its position in shares of Masco by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 9,769,194 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $654,341,000 after purchasing an additional 140,334 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Masco by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,180,364 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $615,282,000 after purchasing an additional 159,052 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Masco by 16.6% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,245,644 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $177,136,000 after purchasing an additional 319,029 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Masco by 1.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,979,524 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $155,472,000 after purchasing an additional 22,167 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Masco Stock Performance

NYSE:MAS opened at $79.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.18, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $72.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.62. Masco Co. has a 1-year low of $47.66 and a 1-year high of $81.91.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The construction company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Masco had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 602.39%. Masco’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Analysts forecast that Masco Co. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Masco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Masco’s payout ratio is 28.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MAS shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Masco from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Masco from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Masco from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Masco from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Masco from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Masco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.58.

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.