Vontobel Holding Ltd. Grows Position in Ferguson plc $FERG

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,533,124 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 130,597 shares during the quarter. Ferguson accounts for about 1.8% of Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $551,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in Ferguson by 247.4% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 198 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 56.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 205 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 103.6% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 226 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 230.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FERG shares. Zacks Research raised Ferguson to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Ferguson from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ferguson from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ferguson from $204.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ferguson from $231.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.71.

Ferguson Stock Performance

NYSE FERG opened at $234.69 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $228.68. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $146.00 and a one year high of $243.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $46.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.17.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 16th. The company reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.48. Ferguson had a return on equity of 35.21% and a net margin of 6.03%.The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.55%.

Ferguson Company Profile

Ferguson Enterprises Inc distributes plumbing and heating products in North America. The company provides expertise, solutions, and products, including infrastructure, plumbing, appliances, fire, and fabrication, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to residential and non-residential customers.