Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 6.33%. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FERG opened at $207.09 on Wednesday. Ferguson has a 12 month low of $147.62 and a 12 month high of $225.63. The company has a market cap of $41.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $204.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.95. 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 announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 4th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FERG shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average 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.