Jones Financial Companies Lllp Increases Stock Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 37.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,096 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,468,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,668,462,000 after purchasing an additional 288,935 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Ferguson by 3.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,541,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $905,230,000 after acquiring an additional 161,662 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ferguson by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,409,000 after acquiring an additional 25,677 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Ferguson by 6.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,371,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,858,000 after acquiring an additional 133,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ferguson by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,111,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,523,000 after acquiring an additional 415,002 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FERG shares. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on shares of Ferguson and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.64.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ FERG opened at $155.23 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.62. The stock has a market cap of $31.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. Ferguson plc has a 12-month low of $152.52 and a 12-month high of $225.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.76 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is currently 39.86%.

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.