Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Raised 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 Thursday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on FLS. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Flowserve from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $57.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Flowserve from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowserve currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.40.

Flowserve Price Performance

Shares of FLS stock opened at $58.06 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $58.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.99. Flowserve has a 52-week low of $39.21 and a 52-week high of $62.32. The stock has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.41.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 5.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Flowserve will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowserve

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FLS. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Flowserve in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Flowserve during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 185.9% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

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.