Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Grows Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 108.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,716 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,415 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $435,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FERG. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Ferguson by 339.9% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,234,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,320,000 after acquiring an additional 954,092 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Ferguson by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ferguson by 906.7% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Ferguson by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Ferguson by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on FERG shares. Berenberg Bank reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on Ferguson and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Ferguson from $189.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Ferguson in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ferguson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.07.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:FERG opened at $212.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ferguson plc has a 52-week low of $146.00 and a 52-week high of $225.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.39. The company has a market capitalization of $41.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.13.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.44. Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. Ferguson’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.40%.

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.