Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Outperform Rating for Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG)

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $189.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.74% from the company’s previous close.

FERG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price target on Ferguson and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Ferguson in a report on Monday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $193.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ferguson from $205.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Zelman & Associates downgraded Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.67.

Ferguson Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ FERG opened at $164.72 on Tuesday. Ferguson has a 12 month low of $152.52 and a 12 month high of $225.63. The stock has a market cap of $32.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $175.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.76 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ferguson will post 9.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FERG. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 32.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,359,000 after buying an additional 7,862 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ferguson in the third quarter worth about $702,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 3.2% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 158,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,533,000 after buying an additional 4,924 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the third quarter worth about $678,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the third quarter worth about $6,792,000. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

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.