Graham Capital Management L.P. Decreases Stock Position in Masco Corporation $MAS

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. reduced its stake in Masco Corporation by 40.5%, selling 26,353 shares and holding 38,732 shares worth approximately $2.7 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Insider transactions included significant sales, with Heath M. Eisman selling 2,431 shares and Jai Shah selling 82,910 shares, resulting in decreases of 16.8% and 67.66% in their respective holdings.
• Masco reported earnings of $1.30 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, but experienced a 1.9% revenue decline year-over-year, prompting a fiscal year 2025 EPS guidance of $3.90 to $4.10.

Graham Capital Management L.P. lessened its position in Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS - Free Report) by 40.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,732 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 26,353 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Masco were worth $2,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Masco by 175.8% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 8,374 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 5,338 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Masco by 339.2% during the first quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 100,376 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,980,000 after buying an additional 77,521 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ grew its stake in shares of Masco by 6.9% during the first quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 74,938 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,211,000 after buying an additional 4,862 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its stake in shares of Masco by 27.8% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 32,938 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,291,000 after buying an additional 7,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brant Point Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Masco by 4.2% during the first quarter. Brant Point Investment Management LLC now owns 84,681 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,889,000 after buying an additional 3,427 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Masco

In other news, CAO Heath M. Eisman sold 2,431 shares of Masco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.62, for a total transaction of $181,401.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,126.32. This trade represents a 16.80% 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. Also, insider Jai Shah sold 82,910 shares of Masco stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.04, for a total transaction of $6,304,476.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,014,073.52. The trade was a 67.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MAS shares. Robert W. Baird cut Masco from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Masco from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Baird R W cut Masco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Masco from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $73.00 price objective (up from $62.00) on shares of Masco in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.13.

Masco Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE MAS traded up $1.63 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $73.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,760,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,146,314. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.63, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.82. Masco Corporation has a 12 month low of $56.55 and a 12 month high of $86.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.13. The stock has a market cap of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.19.

Masco (NYSE:MAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The construction company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. Masco had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 1,519.31%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. Masco's quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Masco has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Masco Corporation will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Masco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Masco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.89%.

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.