Blair William & Co. IL Raises Stock Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,069 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,193 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $15,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $732,000. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Ferguson by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 213,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,127,000 after purchasing an additional 108,820 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ferguson by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 348,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,306,000 after buying an additional 59,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,523,000 after buying an additional 2,841 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of FERG opened at $208.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a P/E/G ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.94. Ferguson plc has a 12 month low of $147.62 and a 12 month high of $225.63. 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 (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 6.33%. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. Ferguson’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 34.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FERG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ferguson from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.57.

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.