Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) Increases Dividend to $0.89 Per Share

Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.89 per share on Friday, February 27th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This is a 7.2% increase from Ferguson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83.

Ferguson has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years. Ferguson has a dividend payout ratio of 31.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of Ferguson stock traded down $19.96 on Tuesday, reaching $225.84. 3,870,714 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,736,897. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $242.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.68. Ferguson has a 1-year low of $146.00 and a 1-year high of $256.93. The company has a market capitalization of $44.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.17.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 9th. The company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.07. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 35.21%. The firm had revenue of $8.17 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on FERG. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Ferguson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Ferguson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $288.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.71.

About Ferguson

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.