StockNews.com Downgrades Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) to Buy

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on FLS. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Flowserve from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Flowserve from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Flowserve from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Flowserve from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Flowserve from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowserve currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.25.

Flowserve Stock Performance

NYSE FLS opened at $45.81 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Flowserve has a 12-month low of $32.05 and a 12-month high of $48.31. The firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.49, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.46.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.07. Flowserve had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Flowserve will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowserve

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RBA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Flowserve in the first quarter worth about $3,112,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Flowserve by 1.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 146,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,689,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in Flowserve by 2.5% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 32,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,474,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Flowserve in the first quarter worth about $545,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in Flowserve by 14.5% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 90,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,123,000 after buying an additional 11,456 shares in the last quarter. 93.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.