Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 6.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.77 earnings per share.

Ferguson Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FERG traded up $1.80 on Thursday, hitting $207.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,297,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,180,887. Ferguson has a one year low of $147.62 and a one year high of $225.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $204.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.54%.

Ferguson declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 4th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.57.

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.