StockNews.com Upgrades Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) to “Strong-Buy”

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

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho reiterated a buy rating and set a $53.00 target price (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Flowserve in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $51.55.

Flowserve Stock Performance

Shares of Flowserve stock opened at $46.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.98. Flowserve has a fifty-two week low of $35.23 and a fifty-two week high of $50.49.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Flowserve had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 15.50%. Flowserve’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Flowserve will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flowserve news, CEO Robert Scott Rowe sold 42,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.98, for a total transaction of $2,112,604.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 407,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,354,005.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowserve

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 332.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 269,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,725,000 after purchasing an additional 207,346 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 48,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,031,000. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,169,000. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the 4th quarter valued at about $866,000. 93.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.