Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Acquires Shares of 7,185 Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd bought a new position in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,185 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $603,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Masco in the second quarter valued at approximately $82,363,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Masco by 956.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 989,640 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $83,070,000 after buying an additional 895,950 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Masco by 66.5% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,823,934 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $121,581,000 after buying an additional 728,690 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Masco by 86.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 634,740 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $42,318,000 after acquiring an additional 294,409 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Masco by 89.5% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 579,597 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $38,642,000 after acquiring an additional 273,718 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MAS shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Masco from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Masco from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Masco from $80.00 to $83.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Masco from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.96.

Masco Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MAS opened at $80.42 on Friday. Masco Co. has a 1-year low of $58.91 and a 1-year high of $86.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.66. The stock has a market cap of $17.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Masco had a net margin of 10.54% and a return on equity of 615.54%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Masco Co. will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Masco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Masco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Kenneth G. Cole sold 37,814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.32, for a total value of $2,961,592.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 36,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,896,273.60. The trade was a 50.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.