Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) Research Coverage Started at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a peer perform rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Ferguson from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $280.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ferguson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ferguson from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $261.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.57.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:FERG opened at $214.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Ferguson has a 1 year low of $212.82 and a 1 year high of $271.64. The company has a market cap of $41.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $234.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $235.66.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.16. Ferguson had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 6.82%.The company had revenue of $8.75 billion during the quarter. Sell-side analysts expect that Ferguson will post 11.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In other news, insider Jake Schlicher sold 5,177 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.92, for a total value of $1,195,472.84. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,191,430.80. This represents a 35.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ferguson

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Ferguson in the second quarter worth approximately $1,789,368,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,107,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,424,075,000 after acquiring an additional 125,317 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,393,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,959,000 after acquiring an additional 25,785 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,868,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $668,809,000 after purchasing an additional 240,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 4th quarter worth $498,005,000. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ferguson

Ferguson plc (NYSE: FERG) is a value-added distributor of plumbing and heating products, water and wastewater solutions, fire protection equipment, HVAC supplies, and related products. The company primarily serves professional contractors and other trade customers, helping them source products, obtain technical support, and manage projects through its distribution network and digital platforms.

Ferguson operates mainly in North America, with businesses serving residential and commercial construction, infrastructure, facilities maintenance, and industrial markets in the United States and Canada.