V Square Quantitative Management LLC Sells 339 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lessened its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 11.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,751 shares of the company’s stock after selling 339 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FERG. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 80.1% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 32,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,166,000 after acquiring an additional 14,590 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 542,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,318,000 after buying an additional 29,396 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,493,000 after buying an additional 9,562 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,834,000. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 60,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,663,000 after buying an additional 10,406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FERG shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ferguson from $232.00 to $229.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.00.

Ferguson Price Performance

FERG stock traded up $0.82 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $203.87. The company had a trading volume of 518,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,134,822. The company has a market capitalization of $41.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.22. Ferguson plc has a 12-month low of $147.62 and a 12-month 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $201.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.49.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.54%.

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.