Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) was upgraded by research analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $288.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 25.46% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of Ferguson from $295.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $285.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Ferguson from $278.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Ferguson from $297.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ferguson from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.44.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FERG opened at $229.56 on Tuesday. Ferguson has a one year low of $212.13 and a one year high of $271.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $237.26.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $8.75 billion for the quarter. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 37.24%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ferguson will post 11.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ferguson news, CFO William Brundage sold 5,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.74, for a total transaction of $1,309,377.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 54,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,010,575.92. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO William Thees, Jr. sold 3,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $772,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 32,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,600. This trade represents a 9.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 38,808 shares of company stock valued at $8,571,587 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ferguson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Ferguson during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,789,368,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 2.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,107,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,424,075,000 after purchasing an additional 125,317 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Ferguson by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,619,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,100,474,000 after purchasing an additional 48,544 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Ferguson by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,055,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,796,000 after buying an additional 16,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, W1M Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 6.2% during the second quarter. W1M Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,980,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,945,000 after acquiring an additional 116,418 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Company Profile

Ferguson plc (NYSE: FERG) is a value-added distributor of plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), waterworks, fire protection and other building and industrial products. The company serves professional contractors, municipalities, commercial and industrial businesses, and other customers through a network of branches, distribution centers, showrooms and digital platforms.

Its product offering includes pipes, valves, fittings, plumbing fixtures, water and wastewater infrastructure products, HVAC equipment, fire protection systems, industrial supplies and related tools and services.