Barclays Trims Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Target Price to $229.00

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) had its price target lowered by Barclays from $232.00 to $229.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $220.00.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FERG opened at $204.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $203.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $41.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.22. Ferguson has a 52-week low of $147.62 and a 52-week high of $224.86.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.05. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ferguson will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ferguson

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BayBridge Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 2.0% in the first quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 3.0% in the first quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 1.9% in the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 2,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 60.0% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its position in Ferguson by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

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.