Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 80 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,891 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $6,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FERG. LGT Group Foundation lifted its position in Ferguson by 24.2% during the second quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 1,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 45.1% during the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 16,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,200,000 after buying an additional 5,135 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,341,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of Ferguson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,986,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ferguson by 43.3% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,155,000 after acquiring an additional 3,366 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FERG. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $232.00 to $229.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ferguson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.00.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of FERG stock opened at $188.51 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $203.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.40. Ferguson plc has a 52-week low of $147.62 and a 52-week high of $225.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.21.

Ferguson announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 4th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Ferguson

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.