Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Short Interest Update

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,180,000 shares, an increase of 50.3% from the November 30th total of 1,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Flowserve Stock Down 1.2 %

FLS opened at $57.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.41. Flowserve has a twelve month low of $39.21 and a twelve month high of $62.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Flowserve had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Flowserve’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Flowserve will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th 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 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Flowserve’s payout ratio is 41.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowserve

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 37,132 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Flowserve by 155.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,624,919 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,429 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 14.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 244,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,619,000 after purchasing an additional 29,979 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in Flowserve during the third quarter worth approximately $714,000. Finally, Interval Partners LP boosted its stake in Flowserve by 60.1% during the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 927,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,593,000 after buying an additional 348,107 shares during the last quarter. 93.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on FLS. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Flowserve from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $57.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Flowserve from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Flowserve in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Flowserve currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.40.

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.