Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,990,000 shares, an increase of 59.2% from the March 31st total of 1,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,150,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Flowserve Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Flowserve stock opened at $46.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 33.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.46. Flowserve has a 52-week low of $32.37 and a 52-week high of $48.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.27.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Flowserve had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Flowserve will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Flowserve’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio is 59.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Flowserve by 61.3% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,564 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowserve by 153.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowserve by 92.6% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 15,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 7,533 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Flowserve by 9.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 431,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,150,000 after purchasing an additional 38,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the third quarter worth $2,053,000. Institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Flowserve from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Flowserve from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Flowserve from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Flowserve from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.25.

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.