Ferguson plc (FERG) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 20th

Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.83 per share on Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. This is a boost from Ferguson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79.

Ferguson has a payout ratio of 29.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ferguson to earn $10.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.9%.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.3 %

FERG stock opened at $185.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $203.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $202.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.21. Ferguson has a 52-week low of $183.49 and a 52-week high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.85%. The business had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ferguson will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FERG has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $219.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $245.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upped 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Ferguson from $230.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ferguson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ferguson news, CMO Victoria Morrissey sold 1,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.20, for a total transaction of $295,361.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,047,246. This trade represents a 22.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ian T. Graham sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,938 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,141.26. This represents a 49.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% 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.