Ferguson plc (FERG) To Go Ex-Dividend on January 2nd

Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.89 per share on Friday, February 27th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This is a 7.2% increase from Ferguson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83.

Ferguson has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years. Ferguson has a payout ratio of 31.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Ferguson Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of FERG opened at $231.33 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $242.93. Ferguson has a 52 week low of $146.00 and a 52 week high of $256.93. The firm has a market cap of $45.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 9th. The company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.17 billion during the quarter. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FERG. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $243.00 price target on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased their target price on Ferguson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $246.23.

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.