Ferguson (FERG) Set to Announce Earnings on Tuesday

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) will be posting its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Tuesday, December 10th. Analysts expect Ferguson to post earnings of $2.60 per share for the quarter. Parties that wish to listen to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.85%. Ferguson’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.77 EPS. On average, analysts expect Ferguson to post $10 EPS for the current fiscal year and $11 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Ferguson Trading Up 0.8 %

FERG opened at $216.93 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Ferguson has a one year low of $175.42 and a one year high of $225.63.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 37.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ferguson news, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.75, for a total transaction of $267,318.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,750. This trade represents a 56.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of Ferguson stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total value of $527,319.04. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares in the company, valued at $224,271.36. This trade represents a 70.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.