Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Short Interest Up 37.2% in December

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of 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 volume of 1,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Flowserve Stock Performance

FLS opened at $63.61 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.47. The firm has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Flowserve has a fifty-two week low of $39.69 and a fifty-two week high of $63.86.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.05). Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Flowserve will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Flowserve

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Flowserve by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 14,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $808,000 after buying an additional 2,736 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Flowserve by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 6,584 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Flowserve by 107.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 82,946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,771,000 after acquiring an additional 42,908 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve in the 4th quarter valued at about $255,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 711 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. 93.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FLS shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Flowserve from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Flowserve from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Flowserve from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Flowserve in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.10.

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.