Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $84.00 to $87.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Flowserve traded as high as $78.84 and last traded at $77.78, with a volume of 16262 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $77.88.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Flowserve from $65.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Flowserve from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Flowserve in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.90.

Insider Activity

In other Flowserve news, CFO Amy B. Schwetz sold 47,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total transaction of $3,337,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 52,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,640.56. This trade represents a 47.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lamar L. Duhon sold 1,609 shares of Flowserve stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $111,841.59. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,050,713.16. This trade represents a 9.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 59,276 shares of company stock valued at $4,196,578 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Flowserve

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new position in Flowserve in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. BOKF NA acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Flowserve during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Flowserve by 1,289.6% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Flowserve Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.29.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. Flowserve had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 9.66%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Flowserve Corporation will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Flowserve’s payout ratio is 24.42%.

Flowserve Company Profile

Flowserve Corporation (NYSE: FLS) is a leading provider of fluid motion and control products and services. The company designs, manufactures and services engineered and industrial pumps, mechanical seals, valves and related flow management equipment. Flowserve’s offerings are utilized across a broad spectrum of end markets, including oil and gas, power generation, chemical processing, water management, pharmaceutical and semiconductor manufacturing, as well as mining and general industrial applications.

Flowserve’s product portfolio encompasses a wide range of centrifugal and positive displacement pumps, high-performance control valves, butterfly and ball valves, as well as mechanical seals and seal support systems.