Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Issues Earnings Results

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.77 EPS.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Ferguson stock opened at $207.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.95. The stock has a market cap of $41.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Ferguson has a 1-year low of $147.62 and a 1-year high of $225.63.

Ferguson declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 4th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.