Fiera Capital Corp Acquires 2,267 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 53.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,541 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,267 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $1,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Ferguson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Summit Global Investments lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 57.9% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 11,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,094 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,359,000 after acquiring an additional 7,862 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 225,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ferguson in the third quarter worth about $776,000. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on FERG. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.38.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of FERG stock opened at $207.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $198.64 and its 200 day moving average is $203.40. 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 plc has a 52-week low of $156.23 and a 52-week high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The business had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total transaction of $527,319.04. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,271.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ian T. Graham sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.27, for a total transaction of $1,162,938.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,195,141.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total transaction of $527,319.04. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares in the company, valued at $224,271.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by 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.