Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $221.50.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Ferguson from $236.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ferguson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FERG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson in the 4th quarter worth about $988,852,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Ferguson by 589.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384,570 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Ferguson by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,371,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,905,000 after acquiring an additional 735,270 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ferguson by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,872,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,594,000 after acquiring an additional 690,643 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Ferguson in the 1st quarter valued at about $104,723,000. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ferguson Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FERG opened at $193.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $207.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.68. Ferguson has a fifty-two week low of $147.62 and a fifty-two week high of $224.86.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 6.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ferguson will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.54%.

About Ferguson

Ferguson plc distributes plumbing and heating products in the United States and Canada. It offers plumbing and heating solutions to customers in the residential, commercial, civil/infrastructure, and industrial end markets. The company also provides expertise, solutions, and products, including infrastructure, plumbing, appliances, fire, fabrication, and others, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning products under the Ferguson brand name.