Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stock Position in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its stake in shares of Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 238,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,166 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Flowserve were worth $13,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FLS. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Flowserve by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 38,134 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,193,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Flowserve by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 26,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 61,565 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,541,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Flowserve by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 711 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Flowserve Stock Performance

NYSE:FLS opened at $42.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.93. Flowserve Co. has a 1-year low of $37.34 and a 1-year high of $65.08.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 6.20%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Flowserve Co. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on Flowserve from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird raised Flowserve from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $71.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Flowserve from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Flowserve from $72.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flowserve currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.30.

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.