Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.15.

Several research firms have weighed in on MAS. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Masco from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Masco from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Masco from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Masco from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Masco

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Masco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $122,144,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Masco during the first quarter worth approximately $78,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Masco by 2.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,300,591 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,074,591,000 after buying an additional 721,117 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 638,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 380,267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Masco Price Performance

NYSE MAS opened at $66.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $69.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.76. The company has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.27. Masco has a 1 year low of $47.66 and a 1 year high of $78.94.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Masco had a return on equity of 865.37% and a net margin of 11.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Masco will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Masco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Masco’s payout ratio is currently 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.