Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on FLS. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Flowserve from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Flowserve from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Flowserve in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Flowserve from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.40.

Flowserve Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FLS traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $58.15. 887,937 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,118,265. Flowserve has a fifty-two week low of $39.21 and a fifty-two week high of $62.32. The firm has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a PE ratio of 28.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last issued 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 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Flowserve will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowserve

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLS. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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. Millennium Management LLC lifted 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 worth $126,259,000 after buying an additional 1,596,429 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of Flowserve during the 3rd quarter worth about $714,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 244,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,619,000 after acquiring an additional 29,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Flowserve by 60.1% in the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 927,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,593,000 after acquiring an additional 348,107 shares in the last quarter. 93.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.