Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $1.32 Million Stock Position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its position in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,690 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,272 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Masco were worth $1,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MAS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Masco in the 4th quarter valued at $122,144,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Masco during the 1st quarter valued at $78,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 721,117 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Masco by 55.8% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,538,952 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $121,391,000 after acquiring an additional 551,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Masco by 967.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 415,406 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,767,000 after acquiring an additional 376,506 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MAS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Masco from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Masco from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Masco from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Masco from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.57.

Masco Stock Performance

Shares of Masco stock traded up $1.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.45. 3,007,947 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,164,413. Masco Co. has a 12-month low of $47.66 and a 12-month high of $78.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.18, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The construction company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.02. Masco had a return on equity of 602.39% and a net margin of 11.59%. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Masco Co. will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Masco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Masco’s dividend payout ratio is 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.