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

Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $221.50.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $236.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BayBridge Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 2.0% in the first quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 3.0% in the first quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 1.9% in the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 2,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 60.0% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of FERG stock opened at $200.09 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $144.59 and a 52 week high of $224.86. The company has a market capitalization of $40.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $212.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $200.87.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.05. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The company had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Ferguson will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.54%.

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.