LMR Partners LLP Invests $5.99 Million in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 34,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,993,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FERG. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 867,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,281,000 after purchasing an additional 377,283 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Ferguson by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 23,834 shares of the company's stock worth $4,137,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Ferguson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $694,000. Clean Yield Group boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 25,959 shares of the company's stock worth $4,506,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 7,632.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 677,684 shares of the company's stock worth $117,626,000 after acquiring an additional 668,920 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on FERG. Zelman & Associates cut shares of Ferguson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $204.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on Ferguson in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Ferguson from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Ferguson in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.38.

Ferguson Price Performance

FERG traded up $2.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $184.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,716,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,616,058. The company has a market cap of $36.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.69. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $146.00 and a 1 year high of $225.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 21st. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.