Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,720 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $3,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FERG. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ferguson by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,359,000 after purchasing an additional 7,862 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 778,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,247,000 after buying an additional 52,776 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $587,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $970,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 25,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,506,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FERG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $193.00 target price (down from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, 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, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.67.

Ferguson Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ FERG opened at $162.27 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.75. The firm has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $152.52 and a 1 year high of $225.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.84%.

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.