First Eagle Investment Management LLC Decreases Stake in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) by 28.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,738,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,026,108 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Flowserve worth $445,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Flowserve by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,886,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $201,685,000 after purchasing an additional 37,132 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Flowserve by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,603,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,577,000 after buying an additional 44,039 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Flowserve by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,201,993 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,851,000 after buying an additional 23,529 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Flowserve by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $90,761,000 after buying an additional 4,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Flowserve by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,664,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $86,055,000 after buying an additional 422,141 shares during the last quarter. 93.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowserve Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FLS opened at $47.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $58.75 and a 200 day moving average of $56.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.97. Flowserve Co. has a one year low of $43.66 and a one year high of $65.08.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last released 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). Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 6.20%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Flowserve Co. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Flowserve’s payout ratio is 39.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FLS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Flowserve from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Flowserve from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowserve from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Flowserve from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowserve has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.60.

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.