What: Shares of home-improvement manufacturer Masco Corp (MAS -0.67%) jumped as much as 12% today after the company reported earnings.
So what: Second-quarter revenue was up 3% to $1.9 billion, but would have risen 7% if not for the drag of currency translation. Operating profit jumped 22% to $280 million and adjusted earnings per share rose 36% to $0.38.
The top-line results were lower than the $2.22 billion Wall Street had expected, but earnings per share beat expectations by $0.02, and that's where the market's focus is today.
Now what: The North American building market continues to be strong, and sales in the region were up 7%, highlighting the company's growth. But gains were broad across the company, and management had enough confidence in operations to increase the stock's annual dividend by $0.02 to $0.38 per share beginning in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Strong profitability with an implied dividend yield of 1.5% and a trailing P/E ratio of 23 are reasonable valuations in a strong building market. With results like this, I think the stock still has further to climb.
