Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

FLS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on Flowserve from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Flowserve from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Flowserve from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Flowserve from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Flowserve from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.25.

Flowserve Trading Down 0.1 %

Flowserve stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $45.63. The stock had a trading volume of 1,013,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,087,759. Flowserve has a twelve month low of $32.05 and a twelve month high of $48.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.46. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.93.

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

Institutional Trading of Flowserve

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Flowserve by 2.5% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 32,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,474,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowserve during the first quarter worth about $545,000. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Flowserve by 14.5% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 90,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,123,000 after acquiring an additional 11,456 shares during the last quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowserve during the first quarter worth about $456,000. Finally, First Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Flowserve during the first quarter worth about $211,000. 93.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.