USS Investment Management Ltd Boosts Holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

USS Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,194,810 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 105,805 shares during the quarter. Ferguson makes up 1.5% of USS Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. USS Investment Management Ltd owned about 0.60% of Ferguson worth $207,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FERG. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 76.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 867,593 shares of the company's stock worth $172,281,000 after buying an additional 377,283 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,524 shares of the company's stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $283,000. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 47,828 shares of the company's stock worth $8,302,000 after acquiring an additional 3,661 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FERG shares. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $189.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.38.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.7%

Ferguson stock opened at $183.34 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.68. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $146.00 and a one year high of $225.63.

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

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st were given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Ferguson's payout ratio 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.

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