1,296 Shares in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Bought by Values First Advisors Inc.

Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ferguson in the second quarter valued at $511,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Ferguson by 491.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 220,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,569,000 after buying an additional 183,199 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,069,000 after buying an additional 2,076 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,341,000. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 174.2% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 104,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,137,000 after acquiring an additional 66,197 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FERG traded down $0.48 during trading on Thursday, hitting $218.47. The company had a trading volume of 682,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,125,996. The company has a market cap of $44.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.27. Ferguson plc has a 52 week low of $123.17 and a 52 week high of $222.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $201.66 and its 200 day moving average is $180.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.80.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.72 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 37.99%. Ferguson’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FERG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ferguson from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James downgraded Ferguson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ferguson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.50.

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.