Savant Capital LLC Sells 7,372 Shares of Masco Corporation $MAS

Savant Capital LLC reduced its stake in Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) by 54.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,185 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 7,372 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Masco were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Masco by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,175,075 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $716,224,000 after acquiring an additional 367,937 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Masco by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,850,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $411,832,000 after acquiring an additional 58,609 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Masco by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,085,602 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $357,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,322 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Masco by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,371,864 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $278,619,000 after acquiring an additional 267,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Masco in the 3rd quarter worth about $192,948,000. 93.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MAS shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Masco from $69.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Masco from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Evercore upgraded shares of Masco from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Masco from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Masco from $84.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.07.

Masco Price Performance

NYSE MAS opened at $69.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 109.07, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.71. Masco Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.16 and a 52-week high of $79.19. The company has a market cap of $14.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.31.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.16. Masco had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 815.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Masco has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.100-4.300 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Masco Corporation will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Masco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Masco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.76%.

Masco announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Masco

Masco Corporation is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of branded home improvement and building products. Founded in 1929 and headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, the company has evolved from a small door?bell manufacturer into a diversified enterprise serving both residential and commercial markets. Over its history, Masco has grown through a combination of organic innovation and strategic acquisitions, building a portfolio of well-recognized brands.

The company’s product offerings are organized into two primary segments.