Avalon Trust Co Takes Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FERG. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 2.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,247,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,198,094,000 after acquiring an additional 196,489 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 6.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,693,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,524,000 after acquiring an additional 99,758 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Ferguson by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 922,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,648,000 after acquiring an additional 22,875 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Ferguson by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 891,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,631,000 after acquiring an additional 259,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Ferguson by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 718,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,194,000 after purchasing an additional 18,692 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Ferguson stock traded up $3.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $217.17. 836,882 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,146,346. Ferguson plc has a 12 month low of $137.12 and a 12 month high of $224.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $213.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $191.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 1.27.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.08). Ferguson had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 37.99%. The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. Ferguson’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 36.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James cut Ferguson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.50.

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.