Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Given New $168.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) had its price target trimmed by Citigroup from $189.00 to $168.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on FERG. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $193.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Zelman & Associates downgraded shares of Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ferguson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.64.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of FERG opened at $155.94 on Wednesday. Ferguson has a 52 week low of $154.09 and a 52 week high of $225.63. The firm has a market cap of $31.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ferguson will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s payout ratio is currently 39.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ferguson

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FERG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 33.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 32.5% during the third 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. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the third quarter worth $40,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 14.0% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 491,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,504,000 after buying an additional 60,282 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 47.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 245,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,652,000 after buying an additional 78,775 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

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.