Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 6,381 Shares of Ferguson plc $FERG

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 2,762.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,612 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,381 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $1,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FERG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,418,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,323,104,000 after buying an additional 102,850 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 150.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,366,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,085,256,000 after acquiring an additional 5,631,554 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Ferguson by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,981,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,331,621,000 after acquiring an additional 434,650 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Ferguson by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,516,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,005,567,000 after purchasing an additional 79,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ferguson by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,393,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,959,000 after purchasing an additional 25,785 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FERG shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Ferguson from $295.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zelman & Associates raised Ferguson from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Ferguson from $271.00 to $281.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Ferguson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $265.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ferguson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ferguson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.21.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE FERG opened at $228.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.13. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $207.64 and a one year high of $271.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $229.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $7.47 billion during the quarter. Ferguson had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 6.98%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is currently 41.40%.

About Ferguson

Ferguson (NYSE: FERG) is a multinational distributor specializing in plumbing and heating products and related building supplies, serving professional contractors, builders and industrial customers. The company supplies a broad range of products used in residential, commercial and infrastructure projects, including pipes and fittings, valves and controls, HVAC equipment, waterworks materials, plumbing fixtures, pumps and accessories, as well as complementary electrical and specialty product lines.

Ferguson operates a network of branches and distribution centers that provide inventory, logistics and value-added services to trade customers.