Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,220 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 174 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FERG. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 807.2% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,802,000 after purchasing an additional 12,915 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 491.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 220,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,569,000 after purchasing an additional 183,199 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the third quarter valued at $8,341,000. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 174.2% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 104,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,137,000 after purchasing an additional 66,197 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,527,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FERG. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ferguson from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James lowered shares of Ferguson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.50.

Ferguson Stock Performance

FERG stock opened at $211.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $210.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.27. The company has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 1.27. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $130.75 and a 1-year high of $224.86.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.72 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 37.99%. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.74%.

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.