Short Interest in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Increases By 37.2%

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,990,000 shares, a growth of 37.2% from the December 15th total of 2,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,210,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve during the third quarter valued at $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Flowserve in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Flowserve during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Flowserve in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Flowserve by 159.9% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. 93.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Flowserve Trading Up 1.4 %

Flowserve stock opened at $63.61 on Friday. Flowserve has a 1 year low of $39.69 and a 1 year high of $63.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $59.85 and its 200-day moving average is $53.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.99. The company has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.10.

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.