Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $59.69 and last traded at $59.49, with a volume of 49682 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $55.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on FLS. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Flowserve from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Flowserve in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.10.

Flowserve Stock Up 7.7 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.39, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.38.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Flowserve Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.58%.

Institutional Trading of Flowserve

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Flowserve during the first quarter valued at $3,808,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Flowserve by 541.1% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 415,732 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,616,000 after acquiring an additional 350,889 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Flowserve by 55.1% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 55,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after acquiring an additional 19,804 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Flowserve by 155.2% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,624,919 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Flowserve during the second quarter valued at $37,100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

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.