Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $220.00 to $215.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Ferguson traded as low as $183.62 and last traded at $185.18, with a volume of 53325 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $185.69.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ferguson from $245.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $230.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ian T. Graham sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.27, for a total transaction of $1,162,938.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,195,141.26. The trade was a 49.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total transaction of $527,319.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares in the company, valued at $224,271.36. This represents a 70.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ferguson

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Ferguson by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 518,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,031,000 after purchasing an additional 46,947 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 133,769 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ferguson in the third quarter worth about $112,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Ferguson during the 3rd quarter worth about $970,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $37.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.00.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.85%. Ferguson’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This is an increase from Ferguson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.94%.

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.