Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Price Target to $189.00

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $211.00 to $189.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 21.37% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Ferguson in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $204.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $193.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.55.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Ferguson stock traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $155.73. The company had a trading volume of 550,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,821,525. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $31.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $176.90 and a 200-day moving average of $191.11. Ferguson has a 52 week low of $154.09 and a 52 week high of $225.63.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FERG. FMR LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,740,049,000 after buying an additional 1,539,889 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,991,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,039,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,120 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,935,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $856,746,000 after acquiring an additional 62,887 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Ferguson by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,541,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,230,000 after purchasing an additional 161,662 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Ferguson by 944.4% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

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.