Ferguson plc Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.79 (NASDAQ:FERG)

Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of 0.79 per share on Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th.

Ferguson has a dividend payout ratio of 29.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ferguson to earn $10.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.7%.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.7 %

FERG stock traded down $1.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $205.52. The company had a trading volume of 2,093,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,180,238. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $41.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.21. Ferguson has a fifty-two week low of $147.62 and a fifty-two week high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 6.33%. Ferguson’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ferguson will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FERG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ferguson from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ferguson from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ferguson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.57.

Ferguson announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 4th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Ferguson Company Profile

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.