Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Receives $233.38 Average Price Target from Analysts

Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $233.38.

A number of research firms have recently commented on FERG. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ferguson news, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total transaction of $527,319.04. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,271.36. The trade was a 70.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Garland Williams sold 1,118 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total transaction of $224,963.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $378,696.04. This represents a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Ferguson by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,468,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,668,462,000 after purchasing an additional 288,935 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 375.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,032,000 after acquiring an additional 4,966,821 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ferguson by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,541,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $905,230,000 after acquiring an additional 161,662 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ferguson by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,409,000 after purchasing an additional 25,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Ferguson by 6.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,371,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,858,000 after purchasing an additional 133,769 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ferguson Stock Up 0.4 %

FERG opened at $213.27 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $201.47 and a 200-day moving average of $202.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Ferguson has a 1-year low of $166.21 and a 1-year high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ferguson will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.05%.

Ferguson Company 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.