Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Ferguson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ferguson from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ferguson in a report on Saturday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.71.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FERG opened at $234.87 on Friday. Ferguson has a one year low of $146.00 and a one year high of $243.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $228.41. The stock has a market cap of $46.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.17.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 16th. The company reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.48. Ferguson had a return on equity of 35.21% and a net margin of 6.03%.The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.55%.

Institutional Trading of Ferguson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FERG. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 101.1% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,165,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,498,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094,029 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $395,401,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 65.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,454,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,464 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,660,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,227,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,255,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201,493 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Company Profile

Ferguson Enterprises Inc distributes plumbing and heating products in North America. The company provides expertise, solutions, and products, including infrastructure, plumbing, appliances, fire, and fabrication, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to residential and non-residential customers.