Avanza Fonder AB Buys Shares of 22,193 Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 22,193 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $1,611,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Masco by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,137,450 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $75,834,000 after buying an additional 122,705 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Masco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,509,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Masco by 14.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 21,162 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 2,621 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Masco by 3.3% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,830 shares of the construction company's stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Masco by 24.1% during the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 16,741 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,254 shares during the last quarter. 93.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MAS. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Masco from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Oppenheimer raised shares of Masco from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $89.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Masco from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Masco from $80.00 to $83.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Masco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $96.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.27.

Masco Stock Performance

NYSE MAS traded up $0.74 on Friday, reaching $78.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,659,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,051,616. 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 company has a market cap of $16.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.72. Masco Co. has a 1-year low of $63.81 and a 1-year high of $86.70.

Masco (NYSE:MAS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. Masco had a net margin of 10.54% and a return on equity of 615.54%. Masco's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Masco Co. will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Masco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Masco's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.