ABN Amro Investment Solutions Cuts Stake in Ferguson plc $FERG

ABN Amro Investment Solutions lowered its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 187,632 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,545 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions owned 0.10% of Ferguson worth $42,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FERG. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ferguson during the 2nd quarter valued at about $395,401,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 39.3% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,255,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,830,000 after buying an additional 1,201,493 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ferguson during the second quarter valued at approximately $130,650,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Ferguson by 89.5% during the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 759,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,422,000 after buying an additional 358,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, C WorldWide Group Holding A S grew its holdings in Ferguson by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 535,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,232,000 after buying an additional 278,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FERG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ferguson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $262.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $268.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Ferguson from $267.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ferguson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.00.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of FERG stock opened at $261.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $240.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $237.68. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $146.00 and a one year high of $271.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 9th. The company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.07. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 35.73%. The firm had revenue of $8.17 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Ferguson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Ferguson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.96%.

About Ferguson

Ferguson (NYSE: FERG) is a multinational distributor specializing in plumbing and heating products and related building supplies, serving professional contractors, builders and industrial customers. The company supplies a broad range of products used in residential, commercial and infrastructure projects, including pipes and fittings, valves and controls, HVAC equipment, waterworks materials, plumbing fixtures, pumps and accessories, as well as complementary electrical and specialty product lines.

Ferguson operates a network of branches and distribution centers that provide inventory, logistics and value-added services to trade customers.