Summit Global Investments Buys New Shares in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,160,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FERG. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 701 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 17,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,847,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ferguson by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FERG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ferguson from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James lowered Ferguson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.50.

Ferguson Stock Up 1.8 %

FERG traded up $3.88 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $217.17. 830,326 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,125,595. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $137.12 and a fifty-two week high of $224.86. The company has a market cap of $44.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a PEG ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 1.27. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $212.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.65.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. 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.