Comparing Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) and DXP Enterprises (NASDAQ:DXPE)

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) and DXP Enterprises (NASDAQ:DXPE) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.9% of Flowserve shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.8% of DXP Enterprises shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Flowserve shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of DXP Enterprises shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Flowserve and DXP Enterprises, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flowserve	0	3	8	1	2.83
DXP Enterprises	0	0	2	1	3.33

Flowserve currently has a consensus price target of $89.30, suggesting a potential upside of 5.84%. DXP Enterprises has a consensus price target of $154.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.56%. Given Flowserve’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Flowserve is more favorable than DXP Enterprises.

Profitability

This table compares Flowserve and DXP Enterprises’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flowserve	7.32%	21.19%	8.39%
DXP Enterprises	4.40%	18.83%	6.04%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Flowserve and DXP Enterprises”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flowserve	$4.73 billion	2.28	$346.25 million	$2.62	32.20
DXP Enterprises	$2.02 billion	1.17	$88.68 million	$5.38	28.19

Flowserve has higher revenue and earnings than DXP Enterprises. DXP Enterprises is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Flowserve, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Flowserve has a beta of 1.33, meaning that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DXP Enterprises has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Flowserve beats DXP Enterprises on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The FCD segment provides engineered and industrial valve and automation systems, including isolation and control valves, actuation, controls, and related equipment; and equipment maintenance services for flow control systems, including advanced diagnostics, repair, installation, commissioning, retrofit programs, and field machining capabilities. This segment's products are used to control, direct, and manage the flow of liquids, gases, and multi-phase fluids. It primarily serves oil and gas, chemical and pharmaceuticals, power generation, and water management markets, as well as general industries, including mining and ore processing, pulp and paper, food and beverage, and other smaller applications. The company distributes its products through direct sales, distributors, and sales representatives. Flowserve Corporation was founded in 1790 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

About DXP Enterprises

DXP Enterprises, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in distributing maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) products, equipment, and services in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: Service Centers (SC), Supply Chain Services (SCS), and Innovative Pumping Solutions (IPS). The SC segment offers MRO products, equipment, and integrated services, including technical expertise and logistics services. It offers a range of MRO products in the rotating equipment, bearing, power transmission, hose, fluid power, metal working, fastener, industrial supply, safety products, and safety services categories. This segment serves customers in the oil and gas, food and beverage, petrochemical, transportation, other general industrial, mining, construction, chemical, municipal, agriculture, and pulp and paper industries. The SCS segment manages procurement and inventory vinventory optimization and management, storeroom management, transaction consolidation and control, vendor oversight and procurement cost optimization, productivity improvement, and customized reporting services. Its programs include SmartAgreement, a procurement solution for various MRO categories; SmartBuy, an on-site or centralized MRO procurement solution; SmartSource, an on-site procurement and storeroom management solution; SmartStore, an e-Catalog solution; SmartVend, an industrial dispensing solution; and SmartServ, an integrated service pump solution. The IPS segment fabricates and assembles custom-made pump packages; remanufactures pumps; and manufactures branded private label pumps. DXP Enterprises, Inc. was founded in 1908 and is based in Houston, Texas.