Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,720,000 shares, a decline of 6.0% from the August 31st total of 1,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 968,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Flowserve Stock Performance

FLS opened at $51.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.06 and a 200-day moving average of $47.78. Flowserve has a 52-week low of $35.31 and a 52-week high of $53.86.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Flowserve had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 5.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Flowserve will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowserve

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS Group AG increased its position in Flowserve by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 280,544 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,564,000 after buying an additional 10,872 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Flowserve during the fourth quarter worth $178,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Flowserve by 79.1% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 185,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,663,000 after acquiring an additional 81,936 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Flowserve by 115.0% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 192,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,940,000 after purchasing an additional 103,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Flowserve by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 58,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FLS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Flowserve from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Flowserve from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flowserve currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.88.

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.