Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 102.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 77,767 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 39,267 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $15,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 2.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,247,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,198,094,000 after buying an additional 196,489 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Ferguson by 6.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,693,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,524,000 after purchasing an additional 99,758 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Ferguson by 86.9% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,636,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,144,000 after purchasing an additional 760,800 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Ferguson by 2.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 922,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,648,000 after purchasing an additional 22,875 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Ferguson by 41.0% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 891,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,631,000 after purchasing an additional 259,197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FERG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 downgraded shares of Ferguson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.50.

Ferguson Price Performance

Ferguson stock opened at $211.90 on Wednesday. Ferguson plc has a 52-week low of $133.79 and a 52-week high of $224.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $211.22 and a 200-day moving average of $188.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a PEG ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company earned $1.91 EPS. Ferguson’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is currently 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.