Brokerages Set Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Price Target at $230.00

Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $230.00.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on FERG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $232.00 to $229.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th.

Ferguson Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ FERG opened at $214.33 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $202.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.28. Ferguson has a 52-week low of $147.62 and a 52-week high of $225.63. The firm has a market cap of $43.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 6.28 and a beta of 1.22.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ferguson will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ferguson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 375.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,032,000 after purchasing an additional 4,966,821 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth about $988,852,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,714,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,014,000 after acquiring an additional 118,894 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,371,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,905,000 after acquiring an additional 735,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,872,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,594,000 after acquiring an additional 690,643 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.