LPL Financial LLC Boosts Stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,779 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $8,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Ferguson by 32.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,359,000 after buying an additional 7,862 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ferguson by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 778,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,247,000 after purchasing an additional 52,776 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ferguson in the fourth quarter valued at about $587,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson during the third quarter worth about $970,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 25,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,506,000 after buying an additional 5,534 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FERG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Ferguson in a report on Monday, February 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $204.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised shares of Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $193.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on Ferguson and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Ferguson in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ferguson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.62.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FERG opened at $155.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.61. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $149.28 and a fifty-two week high of $225.63. The company has a market cap of $31.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.84%.

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.