Rathbones Group PLC Has $150.55 Million Stock Holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in Ferguson plc by 4.1%, acquiring an additional 37,351 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately 940,427 shares valued at $150.55 million.
• Ferguson reported a quarterly EPS of $2.50, surpassing estimates by $0.44, with a revenue increase of 4.3% compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $3.32 and a yield of 1.5%.

Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 940,427 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,351 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC owned about 0.47% of Ferguson worth $150,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FERG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ferguson by 4.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,168,743 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,071,408,000 after acquiring an additional 806,718 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 24.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,660,299 shares of the company's stock worth $1,227,410,000 after buying an additional 1,506,024 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 13.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,818,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,092,576,000 after buying an additional 827,355 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,935,419 shares of the company's stock worth $856,746,000 after buying an additional 62,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 29.6% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,635,707 shares of the company's stock worth $582,452,000 after buying an additional 831,112 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FERG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $220.64.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of FERG traded up $3.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $231.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,686,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,942. The company's fifty day moving average is $220.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Ferguson plc has a 52 week low of $146.00 and a 52 week high of $232.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.16.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.44. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.63%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th were given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.40%.

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.