River Road Asset Management LLC Has $24.90 Million Stock Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 128,987 shares of the company’s stock after selling 48,697 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned 0.06% of Ferguson worth $24,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FERG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter valued at about $610,247,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Ferguson by 86.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,636,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,144,000 after acquiring an additional 760,800 shares during the last quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Ferguson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $79,982,000. Sculptor Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter valued at $68,056,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth $61,053,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $210.93 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Ferguson plc has a 12 month low of $130.75 and a 12 month high of $224.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 1.27.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.08). Ferguson had a return on equity of 37.99% and a net margin of 6.00%. The company had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ferguson from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James lowered Ferguson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ferguson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.50.

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.