809 Shares in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Purchased by Steph & Co.

Steph & Co. bought a new position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ferguson by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. FCF Advisors LLC now owns 11,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after buying an additional 2,186 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS bought a new position in shares of Ferguson during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 16,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,688,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. American National Bank grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 239.0% during the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 2,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 25,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FERG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $236.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.50.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.3 %

FERG opened at $195.37 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $208.82 and a 200 day moving average of $202.99. The company has a market cap of $39.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 1.24. Ferguson plc has a 12 month low of $147.62 and a 12 month high of $224.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.05. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The company had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. Ferguson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.54%.

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.