Ferguson’s (FERG) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $219.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on FERG. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Ferguson from $230.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.00.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FERG opened at $187.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $37.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.21. Ferguson has a twelve month low of $183.63 and a twelve month high of $225.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $202.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.85%. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.77 EPS. Ferguson’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ferguson will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Ferguson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is presently 37.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Victoria Morrissey sold 1,468 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.20, for a total transaction of $295,361.60. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,047,246. The trade was a 22.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total value of $527,319.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,271.36. The trade was a 70.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ferguson

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 303.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $904,000 after buying an additional 3,423 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP raised its position in Ferguson by 66.2% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 51,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,256,000 after acquiring an additional 20,580 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 380.6% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 159,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,309,000 after purchasing an additional 126,242 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,528,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 646,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,217,000 after purchasing an additional 286,691 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ferguson Company Profile

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.