Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) Receives $285.57 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $285.5707.

FERG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $295.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Ferguson from $297.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zelman & Associates raised Ferguson from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ferguson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ferguson from $285.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of FERG opened at $222.75 on Monday. Ferguson has a 12 month low of $207.64 and a 12 month high of $271.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $234.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.03. The company has a market cap of $43.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ferguson news, insider Jake Schlicher sold 5,177 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.92, for a total transaction of $1,195,472.84. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,191,430.80. This trade represents a 35.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FERG. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Ferguson by 23,684.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 69,745,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,552,777,000 after purchasing an additional 69,452,584 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Ferguson by 150.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,366,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,085,256,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,554 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Ferguson during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,789,368,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,107,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,424,075,000 after purchasing an additional 125,317 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,516,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,005,567,000 after purchasing an additional 79,296 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ferguson Company Profile

Ferguson plc (NYSE: FERG) is a value-added distributor of plumbing and heating products, water and wastewater solutions, fire protection equipment, HVAC supplies, and related products. The company primarily serves professional contractors and other trade customers, helping them source products, obtain technical support, and manage projects through its distribution network and digital platforms.

Ferguson operates mainly in North America, with businesses serving residential and commercial construction, infrastructure, facilities maintenance, and industrial markets in the United States and Canada.