California State Teachers Retirement System Raises Stake in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 504,708 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 26,481 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.24% of Masco worth $36,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Masco by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 219,120 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $17,135,000 after purchasing an additional 13,568 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Masco by 5,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,300 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 10,100 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Masco by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,016,079 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $73,737,000 after purchasing an additional 20,129 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Masco by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 11,337 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,931 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Masco by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 21,497 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,560,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MAS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Masco from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Masco from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Masco from $74.00 to $62.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Masco in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $62.00 price target on shares of Masco and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Masco has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $73.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Renee Straber sold 3,139 shares of Masco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.78, for a total value of $225,317.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 33,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,370,678.06. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Masco Stock Down 1.8%

MAS stock traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $61.29. 2,342,696 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,803,326. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.75. Masco Co. has a 1-year low of $56.55 and a 1-year high of $86.70. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $63.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.51. The company has a market cap of $12.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.23.

Masco (NYSE:MAS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.05). Masco had a return on equity of 838.32% and a net margin of 10.50%. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Masco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Masco's payout ratio is 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.