Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Stock

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $190.00 to $230.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on FERG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ferguson from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ferguson in a report on Monday, March 17th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Ferguson in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on Ferguson and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.50.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Ferguson stock traded down $1.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $214.57. 1,728,273 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,645,475. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $171.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.06. Ferguson has a one year low of $146.00 and a one year high of $225.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.90 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.13.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.44. Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ferguson will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Ferguson's payout ratio is 41.40%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ferguson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 4.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,168,743 shares of the company's stock worth $3,071,408,000 after acquiring an additional 806,718 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,740,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,889 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 24.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,660,299 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,227,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,024 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 13.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,818,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,092,576,000 after purchasing an additional 827,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,935,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $856,746,000 after purchasing an additional 62,887 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ferguson

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.