Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 301,172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,931 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Flowserve worth $17,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP grew its stake in shares of Flowserve by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 3,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Services purchased a new stake in Flowserve during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in Flowserve during the fourth quarter valued at $5,831,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Flowserve by 185.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 30,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,770,000 after buying an additional 20,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve in the fourth quarter worth about $9,182,000. 93.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowserve Stock Performance

NYSE:FLS opened at $54.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.42. Flowserve Co. has a twelve month low of $41.78 and a twelve month high of $65.08. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last released its 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). The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 forecast that Flowserve Co. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Flowserve’s payout ratio is currently 39.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on FLS. StockNews.com cut Flowserve from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Flowserve from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho upped their target price on Flowserve from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Flowserve from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.60.

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.