Cypress Capital Group Has $503,000 Stake in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Cypress Capital Group reduced its stake in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,931 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,020 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Masco were worth $503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Masco by 20.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 331,883 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,147,000 after purchasing an additional 56,626 shares in the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Masco by 21.7% in the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 540,437 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $45,364,000 after purchasing an additional 96,415 shares in the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Masco by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 219,120 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $17,135,000 after purchasing an additional 13,568 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Masco by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,544 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Masco by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,016,079 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $73,737,000 after purchasing an additional 20,129 shares in the last quarter. 93.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MAS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Masco from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Masco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Masco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Masco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.32.

Masco Stock Up 1.6 %

MAS opened at $73.63 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74. The stock has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24. Masco Co. has a twelve month low of $63.81 and a twelve month high of $86.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $76.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.82.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Masco had a net margin of 10.50% and a return on equity of 838.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Masco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.98%.

Insider Activity at Masco

In related news, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.36, for a total transaction of $1,658,768.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,601,988.12. This represents a 26.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Masco Company Profile

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.