Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Hits New 52-Week High on Strong Earnings

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $49.35 and last traded at $48.74, with a volume of 367927 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $47.22.

The industrial products company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Flowserve had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 4.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Flowserve Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. This is an increase from Flowserve’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio is 59.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on FLS shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Flowserve from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Flowserve from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Flowserve from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowserve

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLS. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Flowserve in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Flowserve in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Flowserve by 122.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Flowserve by 14,663.6% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Flowserve by 153.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Flowserve Stock Up 3.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

About Flowserve

Flowserve Corporation designs, manufactures, distributes, and services industrial flow management equipment in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through Flowserve Pump Division (FPD) and Flow Control Division (FCD) segments. The FPD segment offers custom and pre-configured pumps and pump systems, mechanical seals, auxiliary systems, replacement parts, upgrades, and related aftermarket services; and equipment services, including installation and commissioning services, seal systems spare parts, repairs, advanced diagnostics, re-rate and upgrade solutions, retrofit programs, and machining and asset management solutions, as well as manufactures a gas-lubricated mechanical seal for use in high-speed compressors for gas pipelines and in the oil and gas production and process markets.