The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 964 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 22.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,343 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 964 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $1,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 2,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FERG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ferguson from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ferguson from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.57.

Ferguson Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:FERG opened at $198.69 on Friday. Ferguson plc has a twelve month low of $147.62 and a twelve month high of $225.63. The company has a market cap of $39.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.86 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.05%.

Ferguson 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.