Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Upgraded at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $71.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FLS. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Flowserve from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Flowserve from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowserve presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.60.

Flowserve Price Performance

Shares of FLS stock opened at $51.36 on Monday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $57.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.28. Flowserve has a 12 month low of $43.66 and a 12 month high of $65.08. The company has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.43.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.07). Flowserve had a net margin of 6.20% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Analysts predict that Flowserve will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 37,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,962,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 0.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 26,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,527,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 61,565 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,541,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

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.