Donald L. Hagan LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Donald L. Hagan LLC boosted its position in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,108 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC’s holdings in Masco were worth $1,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MAS. United Bank raised its position in shares of Masco by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 12,644 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 2,425 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Masco by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 65,264 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,328,000 after acquiring an additional 11,337 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of Masco by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 32,103 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Masco during the 1st quarter worth about $495,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Masco by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 457,744 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $23,345,000 after acquiring an additional 305,138 shares in the last quarter. 93.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Masco from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Masco from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Masco from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Masco from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Masco from $58.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Masco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.92.

Insider Transactions at Masco

In other news, VP Richard Allan Marshall sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total value of $385,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $806,328.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Richard Allan Marshall sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total value of $385,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,465 shares in the company, valued at $806,328.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jai Shah sold 42,552 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.36, for a total value of $3,249,270.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,778.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,762 shares of company stock valued at $6,337,597 over the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Masco Price Performance

MAS stock traded up $1.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $78.88. 1,709,362 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,532,933. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $73.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.07. The stock has a market cap of $17.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.25. Masco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.69 and a fifty-two week high of $78.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 30.05, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The construction company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.79 billion. Masco had a return on equity of 3,111.50% and a net margin of 11.40%. Masco’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Masco Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. This is a boost from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Masco’s payout ratio is 28.93%.

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.