Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,221 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $3,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 1st quarter worth approximately $370,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Ferguson by 11.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,669,000 after purchasing an additional 3,570 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ferguson by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,046,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,213,327,000 after purchasing an additional 191,587 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ferguson by 100.4% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 31.4% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 161,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,630,000 after buying an additional 38,584 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FERG shares. Raymond James cut shares of Ferguson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ferguson from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.50.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of FERG stock opened at $208.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $210.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.93. Ferguson plc has a twelve month low of $133.10 and a twelve month high of $224.86.

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

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is currently 36.74%.

Ferguson 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.