1832 Asset Management L.P. Cuts Stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

1832 Asset Management L.P. lowered its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 52.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,557 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,060 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $3,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BayBridge Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 2,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 60.0% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Ferguson stock traded up $5.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $218.54. 1,065,715 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,110,986. Ferguson plc has a twelve month low of $147.62 and a twelve month high of $224.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.87. 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 results on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FERG. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ferguson from $232.00 to $229.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.00.

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.