Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Increases Stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 108.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,716 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,415 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $435,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FERG. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Ferguson by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,740,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,889 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ferguson by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,991,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,039,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,120 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Ferguson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,935,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $856,746,000 after purchasing an additional 62,887 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Ferguson by 944.4% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ferguson by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,215,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $557,082,000 after purchasing an additional 18,036 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FERG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ferguson from $189.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ferguson from $190.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.07.

Ferguson Price Performance

Ferguson stock opened at $212.34 on Friday. Ferguson plc has a 12 month low of $146.00 and a 12 month high of $225.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.13.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.44. Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. Ferguson’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 41.40%.

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.