Stephens Inc. AR Grows Stake in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,593 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Masco were worth $386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Masco by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 410,225 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $34,434,000 after acquiring an additional 3,983 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of Masco by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 3,884 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Masco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Masco by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 40,218 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Masco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MAS. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Masco from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Masco from $80.00 to $83.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Masco from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Masco from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Masco from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.96.

Masco Stock Performance

MAS stock opened at $80.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. Masco Co. has a 1 year low of $55.09 and a 1 year high of $86.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $81.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.77.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. Masco had a return on equity of 615.54% and a net margin of 10.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Masco Co. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Masco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Masco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Masco

In related news, VP Kenneth G. Cole sold 37,814 shares of Masco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.32, for a total transaction of $2,961,592.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 36,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,896,273.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Masco 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.