Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Receives $199.38 Average Price Target from Analysts

Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $199.38.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America upgraded Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $185.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on Ferguson from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ferguson from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th.

Ferguson Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $169.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.68. Ferguson has a 52 week low of $146.00 and a 52 week high of $225.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $164.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.84%.

Institutional Trading of Ferguson

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Ferguson by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,740,049,000 after buying an additional 1,539,889 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Ferguson by 24.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,660,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,227,410,000 after buying an additional 1,506,024 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Ferguson by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,991,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,039,935,000 after buying an additional 1,231,120 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Ferguson by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,935,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $856,746,000 after buying an additional 62,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in Ferguson by 944.4% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,944,000 after buying an additional 3,198,477 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.