Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Outperform Rating for Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG)

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $189.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.74% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on FERG. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on Ferguson from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America upgraded Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $185.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Zelman & Associates cut Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on Ferguson from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.67.

Ferguson Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FERG opened at $164.72 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ferguson has a 12-month low of $152.52 and a 12-month high of $225.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $175.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ferguson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,740,049,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,889 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,991,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,039,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,120 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,935,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $856,746,000 after acquiring an additional 62,887 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Ferguson by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,541,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $905,230,000 after purchasing an additional 161,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Ferguson by 944.4% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198,477 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.