Hennessy Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 15,100 Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,419,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 906.7% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 151 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 166.7% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 92.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 258 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 259.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 291 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FERG shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ferguson from $189.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ferguson from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Ferguson from $190.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on Ferguson and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.07.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:FERG opened at $212.34 on Monday. Ferguson plc has a 12-month low of $146.00 and a 12-month high of $225.63. The company has a market capitalization of $41.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $179.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.90. 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 (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. Ferguson's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Ferguson's payout ratio is presently 41.40%.

Ferguson 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.

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