Values First Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,296 Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FERG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $610,247,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,690,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,996,306,000 after purchasing an additional 4,618,603 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 92.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,753,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,799,483 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Ferguson by 86.9% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,636,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,144,000 after acquiring an additional 760,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Ferguson during the first quarter valued at approximately $79,982,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ferguson from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James lowered shares of Ferguson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.50.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Ferguson stock traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $218.47. 682,152 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,125,996. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $123.17 and a fifty-two week high of $222.39. The company has a market capitalization of $44.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $201.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.71.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is currently 36.74%.

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.