Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Given New $189.00 Price Target at Oppenheimer

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) had its target price cut by Oppenheimer from $234.00 to $189.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 21.17% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Bank of America upgraded Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ferguson from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $219.00 price target on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $204.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ferguson from $234.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.55.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of Ferguson stock traded down $1.00 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $155.98. 469,351 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,819,477. The company has a market cap of $31.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $176.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.11. Ferguson has a twelve month low of $154.09 and a twelve month high of $225.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.63%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Ferguson will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ferguson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FERG. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 944.4% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198,477 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $469,730,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 208.8% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,678,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,973,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811,287 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,740,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the fourth quarter worth $239,539,000. 81.98% of the stock is currently 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.