Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $189.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on FERG. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $193.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Zelman & Associates cut shares of Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on shares of Ferguson and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.67.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of FERG stock opened at $163.83 on Tuesday. Ferguson has a 52-week low of $152.52 and a 52-week high of $225.63. The stock has a market cap of $32.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $175.16 and a 200-day moving average of $189.05.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,740,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,889 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,991,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,039,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,120 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,935,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $856,746,000 after purchasing an additional 62,887 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 161,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 944.4% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

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.