Madison Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $52.18 Million Investment in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 300,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,175,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Ferguson by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 23,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,137,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 33.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Ferguson by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in Ferguson by 3.8% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 41.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FERG shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $193.00 price objective (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on shares of Ferguson and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Zelman & Associates cut shares of Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America raised shares of Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Ferguson from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.64.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $155.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $154.09 and a one year high of $225.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.86.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.76 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 39.86%.

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.