Ferguson Enterprises Kept at Buy as BofA Notes 'Unusually Large' FloWorks Acquisition

05:46 AM EDT, 07/15/2026 (MT Newswires) -- BofA Global Research maintained its investment case for Ferguson Enterprises (FERG.L), after the company agreed to purchase technical valves and flow control products distributor FWI Holdings, d/b/a FloWorks, at an enterprise value of $1.6 billion. "In our view, while not transformative, this is an unusually large acquisition for Ferguson, adding $1bn or c3% to group sales. Over the last 10 years, Ferguson has spent on average c$400m on acquisitions per annum, typically adding 1-2% of incremental sales via a string of smaller bolt-on deals," according to a Tuesday release. The research firm projects the transaction will be 2% accretive to Ferguson's full-year 2027 EPS, factoring in synergies but excluding one-off costs. Against this backdrop, analysts reiterated their buy rating for the plumbing and heating products distributor, with a price objective of 240 pounds sterling, and added the company to their "Top 10 EMEA ideas for Q3 2026" list. "One of the positive arguments was related to Ferguson's strong balance sheet and capital allocation optionality, including potential acquisitions. The next catalyst is the Q2 results on August 10th, where we see potential for positive earnings momentum driven by margins. The stock also trades at a c15% discount to the average of its peer group," the note said.