QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 12,417 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 30.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 53,278 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,417 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $11,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FERG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth $988,852,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,371,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,905,000 after buying an additional 735,270 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,872,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,594,000 after buying an additional 690,643 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth $89,758,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,305,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,052,000 after buying an additional 365,843 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FERG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $232.00 to $229.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Ferguson Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of Ferguson stock traded up $10.36 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $216.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,845,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,149,501. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Ferguson plc has a 52 week low of $147.62 and a 52 week high of $224.86. The stock has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $203.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.49.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.05. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The company had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. Ferguson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 34.54%.

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.