Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 153,877 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,470 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.08% of Ferguson worth $29,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 375.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,218,032,000 after buying an additional 4,966,821 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 589.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,778,000 after buying an additional 1,384,570 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,563,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,781,000 after buying an additional 153,757 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 1,104,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,846,000 after buying an additional 15,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 975,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,422,000 after buying an additional 84,390 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FERG. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup raised 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. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.57.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $200.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.21. Ferguson plc has a 12-month low of $147.62 and a 12-month high of $225.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.88.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.54%.

Ferguson announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ferguson 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.