Brokers Issue Forecasts for Ferguson plc’s Q1 2025 Earnings (NASDAQ:FERG)

Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) – Investment analysts at William Blair lowered their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for Ferguson in a research note issued on Tuesday, September 17th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $2.70 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $2.89. The consensus estimate for Ferguson’s current full-year earnings is $9.63 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Ferguson’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.81 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.35 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.04 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $11.71 EPS.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 6.33%. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

FERG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ferguson from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ferguson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.57.

Ferguson Stock Performance

NASDAQ FERG opened at $208.19 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $42.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ferguson has a 12-month low of $147.62 and a 12-month high of $225.63.

Institutional Trading of Ferguson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Ferguson by 375.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,032,000 after purchasing an additional 4,966,821 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Ferguson by 589.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,778,000 after buying an additional 1,384,570 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Ferguson by 10.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,563,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,781,000 after acquiring an additional 153,757 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP raised its position in Ferguson by 1.4% in the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 1,104,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,846,000 after acquiring an additional 15,700 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ferguson by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 975,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,422,000 after acquiring an additional 84,390 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ferguson declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Ferguson’s 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.