Teza Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 11,798 Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,048,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 944.4% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company's stock worth $613,944,000 after buying an additional 3,198,477 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter valued at $469,730,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 208.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 18.2% in the 4th 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. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth about $239,539,000. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on FERG. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price target on shares of Ferguson and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on Ferguson from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ferguson presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.38.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.5%

Ferguson stock traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $178.32. The stock had a trading volume of 583,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,615,820. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.14. Ferguson plc has a 12 month low of $146.00 and a 12 month high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.58 by ($0.06). Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.63%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st were paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Ferguson's payout ratio is presently 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.