Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Increases Position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS - Free Report) by 87,241.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,037 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 116,903 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. owned about 0.05% of Masco worth $7,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAS. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Masco in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Masco in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Masco by 70.6% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,051 shares of the construction company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Masco in the third quarter worth $66,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Masco by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the construction company's stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. 93.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Masco news, VP Richard Allan Marshall sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total transaction of $385,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $806,328.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Richard Allan Marshall sold 5,000 shares of Masco stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jai Shah sold 42,552 shares of Masco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.36, for a total transaction of $3,249,270.72. Following 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. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MAS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Masco from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Masco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Masco from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Masco from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Masco from $65.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.15.

Masco Trading Up 0.8 %

MAS stock traded up $0.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $69.54. The company had a trading volume of 1,392,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,065,198. Masco Co. has a 52 week low of $47.66 and a 52 week high of $78.94. The company has a market cap of $15.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.79 and a 200 day moving average of $67.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.76, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Masco (NYSE:MAS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.06. Masco had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 865.37%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Masco's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Masco Co. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.29 dividend. This is an increase from Masco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Masco's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.43%.

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.

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