Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Sunday morning.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on FLS. Mizuho reiterated a buy rating and set a $53.00 target price (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Flowserve in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Flowserve from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Flowserve from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $51.55.

Flowserve Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE FLS traded up $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,894,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,121,984. Flowserve has a 12 month low of $32.49 and a 12 month high of $49.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $45.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.61. The company has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.42.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Flowserve had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Flowserve will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Flowserve Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Flowserve’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.46%.

Institutional Trading of Flowserve

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Flowserve by 332.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 269,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,725,000 after purchasing an additional 207,346 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Flowserve by 4.8% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 48,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,936,000 after buying an additional 2,235 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Flowserve during the 4th quarter worth $6,031,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new position in Flowserve in the 4th quarter valued at $866,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Flowserve in the 4th quarter valued at $5,970,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Flowserve Company Profile

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.