Sycale Advisors NY LLC Raises Holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Sycale Advisors NY LLC boosted its holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 113,533 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,337 shares during the period. Ferguson makes up about 5.1% of Sycale Advisors NY LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Sycale Advisors NY LLC owned 0.06% of Ferguson worth $19,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FERG. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 944.4% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $613,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198,477 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $469,730,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 208.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,678,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $464,973,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,287 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,740,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,889 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,539,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FERG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ferguson from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ferguson has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.38.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Ferguson stock traded down $3.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $178.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,149,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,619,570. The firm has a market cap of $35.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $166.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ferguson plc has a twelve month low of $146.00 and a twelve month high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.84%.

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.