Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on FLS. Bank of America upped their target price on Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Flowserve from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Flowserve from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Flowserve from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.60.

Flowserve Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE FLS opened at $57.47 on Thursday. Flowserve has a 12-month low of $41.60 and a 12-month high of $65.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.42.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 6.20%. On average, analysts forecast that Flowserve will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowserve

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FLS. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Flowserve by 1,577.1% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowserve during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $208,000. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowserve during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Delta Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Flowserve by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,420 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Flowserve by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 599,483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,482,000 after acquiring an additional 231,397 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

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.