StockNews.com Downgrades Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) to Buy

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on FLS. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Flowserve presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.25.

Flowserve Price Performance

NYSE FLS opened at $46.77 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Flowserve has a 12-month low of $32.37 and a 12-month high of $48.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.46.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.07. Flowserve had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Flowserve will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Flowserve

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its stake in Flowserve by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 9,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Flowserve by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 57,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,285,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Flowserve by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Flowserve by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Flowserve by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.