Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Flowserve in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Flowserve from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Flowserve from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.40.

Flowserve Stock Performance

NYSE:FLS opened at $58.06 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $39.21 and a twelve month high of $62.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $58.11 and a 200-day moving average of $51.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.41.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Flowserve had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Flowserve’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowserve will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowserve

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Flowserve during the third quarter worth $25,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowserve by 185.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowserve in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Flowserve during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Flowserve during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

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.