Clearbridge Investments LLC Buys 30,186 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 20.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,231 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,186 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Ferguson worth $34,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FERG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 375.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,032,000 after buying an additional 4,966,821 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Ferguson by 589.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384,570 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,563,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,781,000 after purchasing an additional 153,757 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 1.4% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 1,104,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,846,000 after purchasing an additional 15,700 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 975,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,422,000 after buying an additional 84,390 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ferguson Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $191.70 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $203.08 and its 200 day moving average is $206.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.20. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $147.62 and a 1 year 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 37.03%. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 34.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FERG shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ferguson from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ferguson from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.57.

Ferguson Company 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.