Gitterman Wealth Management LLC Takes $408,000 Position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Gitterman Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 6,096 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $408,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MAS. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Masco by 15.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,320,936 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $284,404,000 after purchasing an additional 711,988 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Masco by 1,307.8% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 686,794 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,708,000 after purchasing an additional 638,010 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Masco by 443.5% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 502,157 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,829,000 after purchasing an additional 409,767 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Masco by 87.3% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 815,888 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $43,609,000 after purchasing an additional 380,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yacktman Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Masco during the third quarter worth approximately $19,542,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Masco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MAS traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $69.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,921,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,858,241. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.76, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.98. Masco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.66 and a fifty-two week high of $78.94.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.06. Masco had a return on equity of 865.37% and a net margin of 11.60%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Masco Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. This is an increase from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Masco’s payout ratio is presently 28.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Masco 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 transaction of $385,250.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,465 shares in the company, valued at $806,328.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,465 shares in the company, valued at $806,328.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,778.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 83,762 shares of company stock worth $6,337,597. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on MAS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Masco from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer started coverage on Masco in a research report on Friday, January 19th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on Masco from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Masco from $65.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on Masco from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Masco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.15.

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.