Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $214.10, but opened at $218.98. Ferguson shares last traded at $217.31, with a volume of 309,146 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FERG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ferguson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.38.

Ferguson Trading Up 2.0 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.40. The company has a market capitalization of $43.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In other Ferguson news, SVP Garland Williams sold 1,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $224,963.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,882 shares in the company, valued at $378,696.04. The trade was a 37.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total value of $527,319.04. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,271.36. This represents a 70.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ferguson

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Ferguson by 375.4% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 423.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,462,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,143 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in Ferguson by 133.3% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 700,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,999,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Ferguson by 76.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 867,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,281,000 after buying an additional 377,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Ferguson during the third quarter valued at approximately $63,420,000. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.