Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FLS. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Flowserve from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Flowserve from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Flowserve from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $57.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.40.

Flowserve Price Performance

Flowserve stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $57.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 492,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,110,849. The stock 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Flowserve has a 52 week low of $39.21 and a 52 week high of $62.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.27.

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

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. 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%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowserve

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Flowserve in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowserve during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Flowserve in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Flowserve by 185.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

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.