Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Stock Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 840,722 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,714 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.42% of Ferguson worth $145,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in Ferguson by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 867,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,281,000 after buying an additional 377,283 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth about $283,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its holdings in Ferguson by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new position in Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FERG shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on shares of Ferguson and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.38.

Ferguson Price Performance

FERG stock opened at $184.54 on Monday. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $146.00 and a 1 year high of $225.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $165.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.38. The firm has a market cap of $36.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.14.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.76 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st were paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 40.84%.

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.