Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Shares Bought by EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd

EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 134.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,200 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,700 shares during the quarter. EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd's holdings in Ferguson were worth $1,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 375.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,218,032,000 after acquiring an additional 4,966,821 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Ferguson by 589.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $353,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384,570 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Ferguson by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,563,558 shares of the company's stock worth $302,781,000 after purchasing an additional 153,757 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 1,104,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $213,846,000 after purchasing an additional 15,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 975,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,422,000 after buying an additional 84,390 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on FERG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ferguson from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ferguson from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $231.57.

Ferguson Stock Performance

FERG stock traded up $2.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $201.96. The company had a trading volume of 3,461,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,240,280. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $204.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.84. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $147.62 and a fifty-two week high of $225.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a return on equity of 37.03% and a net margin of 5.85%. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 4th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.54%.

Ferguson Company 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.