Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 1,384,570 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 589.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,619,637 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,384,570 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $353,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Ferguson by 174.9% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 233,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,952,000 after buying an additional 148,415 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Ferguson during the first quarter valued at $104,723,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Ferguson in the first quarter valued at about $603,000. Saturna Capital Corp boosted its position in Ferguson by 621.7% in the first quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 145,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,759,000 after purchasing an additional 125,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 1st quarter valued at about $315,000. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of FERG stock traded up $5.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $218.54. The company had a trading volume of 1,065,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,110,986. The company has a market capitalization of $44.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $201.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $204.87. Ferguson plc has a 52-week low of $147.62 and a 52-week high of $224.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.05. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 6.33%. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FERG shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $232.00 to $229.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ferguson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.00.

Ferguson 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.