Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $502,000 Holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,594 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 931 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FERG. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter valued at $2,274,000. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth about $286,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Ferguson by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Ferguson by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 5,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,091,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of FERG traded up $1.35 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $215.68. 591,187 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,113,462. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63, a PEG ratio of 6.28 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $202.66 and a 200 day moving average of $207.48. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $147.62 and a one year high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 6.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 34.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FERG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ferguson from $232.00 to $229.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ferguson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.00.

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.