Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Lifted 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 published on Sunday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on Flowserve from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Flowserve from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Flowserve from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Flowserve from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Flowserve currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $51.55.

Flowserve Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FLS opened at $48.92 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.82. Flowserve has a 1-year low of $32.49 and a 1-year high of $49.35.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. 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 net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Flowserve will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. This is a positive change from Flowserve’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FLS. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowserve during the first quarter worth $149,000. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowserve by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 38,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,768,000 after acquiring an additional 5,569 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the first quarter valued at about $223,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Flowserve by 6.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 151,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,929,000 after acquiring an additional 9,204 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Flowserve during the first quarter worth about $3,808,000. 93.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.