Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $408.53 Million Stock Holdings in Ferguson plc $FERG

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,751,929 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,533 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.90% of Ferguson worth $408,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 2.2% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 671,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,578,000 after buying an additional 14,531 shares in the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in shares of Ferguson in the first quarter valued at $9,036,000. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 6.8% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 574,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,902,000 after buying an additional 36,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Ferguson by 30.1% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 40,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,533,000 after buying an additional 9,462 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FERG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Ferguson from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ferguson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Ferguson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $315.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.21.

Ferguson Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $226.28 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $229.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.44. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $207.64 and a 1 year high of $271.64. The company has a market capitalization of $43.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.13. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.14. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.98% and a return on equity of 38.81%. The firm had revenue of $7.47 billion during the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 11.27 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

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

Ferguson declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ferguson Profile

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.