Promethos Capital LLC Has $1.75 Million Holdings in Ferguson plc $FERG

Promethos Capital LLC lessened its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 48.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,385 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,030 shares during the period. Promethos Capital LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $1,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 3,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Ferguson by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 690 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 22,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,076,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FERG. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ferguson from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Ferguson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $315.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ferguson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $261.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ferguson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.93.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of FERG opened at $242.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $237.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.50. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $207.64 and a 1-year high of $271.64. The company has a market cap of $46.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.16. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 37.24%. The firm had revenue of $8.75 billion during the quarter. On average, research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 11.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.83%.

Ferguson declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 5th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ferguson Profile

Ferguson (NYSE: FERG) is a multinational distributor specializing in plumbing and heating products and related building supplies, serving professional contractors, builders and industrial customers. The company supplies a broad range of products used in residential, commercial and infrastructure projects, including pipes and fittings, valves and controls, HVAC equipment, waterworks materials, plumbing fixtures, pumps and accessories, as well as complementary electrical and specialty product lines.

Ferguson operates a network of branches and distribution centers that provide inventory, logistics and value-added services to trade customers.