OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Purchases 8,951 Shares of Ferguson plc $FERG

Key Points

• OMERS Administration Corp more than doubled its Ferguson position in the first quarter, purchasing 8,951 additional shares for a total of 17,444 shares valued at approximately $4.1 million. Institutional investors own nearly 82% of Ferguson’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with Ferguson carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $277.21, despite Goldman Sachs downgrading the stock to “Neutral.”
• Ferguson exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with $2.28 in EPS on $7.47 billion in revenue, while also offering a 1.5% dividend yield and authorizing a $2 billion share-repurchase program.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its position in Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG - Free Report) by 105.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,444 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,951 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Ferguson were worth $4,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 350,745.0% in the fourth quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 522,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,382,000 after acquiring an additional 522,610 shares in the last quarter. Marsico Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth $11,017,000. Lmcg Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ferguson in the first quarter worth $1,806,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Ferguson in the 4th quarter valued at $891,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 89.6% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 30,983 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,898,000 after purchasing an additional 14,644 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FERG. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Ferguson from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $315.00 to $265.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ferguson from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $295.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.21.

Ferguson Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of FERG opened at $233.79 on Tuesday. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $207.64 and a fifty-two week high of $271.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $230.08 and a 200 day moving average of $240.59. The firm has a market cap of $45.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $7.47 billion for the quarter. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.98% and a return on equity of 38.81%. Ferguson's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Ferguson's payout ratio is 41.40%.

Ferguson declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 5th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ferguson Company Profile

Ferguson NYSE: FERG is a multinational distributor specializing in plumbing and heating products and related building supplies, serving professional contractors, builders and industrial customers. The company supplies a broad range of products used in residential, commercial and infrastructure projects, including pipes and fittings, valves and controls, HVAC equipment, waterworks materials, plumbing fixtures, pumps and accessories, as well as complementary electrical and specialty product lines.

Ferguson operates a network of branches and distribution centers that provide inventory, logistics and value-added services to trade customers.

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