Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Price Target to $180.00

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $205.00 to $180.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

FERG has been the subject of several other reports. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Zelman & Associates lowered shares of Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $193.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.64.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $155.94 on Wednesday. Ferguson has a 1-year low of $154.09 and a 1-year high of $225.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.58 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.76 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.63%. Ferguson’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ferguson will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 39.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 944.4% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,944,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198,477 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $469,730,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 208.8% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,678,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,973,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811,287 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,740,049,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,539,000. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.