Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Shares Acquired by Signaturefd LLC

Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,574 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Ferguson Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:FERG opened at $211.90 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $211.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.78. Ferguson plc has a 52 week low of $133.79 and a 52 week high of $224.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FERG. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ferguson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.50.

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.