Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Shares Sold by DGS Capital Management LLC

DGS Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,294 shares of the company’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FERG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ferguson by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,046,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,213,327,000 after buying an additional 191,587 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Ferguson by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,247,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,198,094,000 after buying an additional 196,489 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ferguson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $610,247,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ferguson by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,416,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,486,000 after buying an additional 123,731 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ferguson by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,642,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,394,000 after buying an additional 235,236 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FERG. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ferguson from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.50.

Ferguson Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FERG opened at $215.41 on Wednesday. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $130.09 and a 1 year high of $224.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.98 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $209.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.10.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.74%.

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.