Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Takes $8.15 Million Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 46,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,146,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 906.7% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 151 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Ferguson by 92.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 258 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Ferguson by 41.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 333 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ferguson in a report on Monday, March 17th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ferguson from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ferguson from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.38.

Ferguson Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of FERG traded up $1.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $164.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,604,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,563,506. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $32.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.30. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $146.00 and a fifty-two week high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.76 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.84%.

Ferguson Profile

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.