Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, a decrease of 7.4% from the October 31st total of 1,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on FLS. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Flowserve from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flowserve presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.30.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Flowserve by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 70,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,909,000 after acquiring an additional 5,127 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Flowserve by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 4,670 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Flowserve in the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Flowserve by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 27,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,442,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Flowserve Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLS traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 226,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,102,347. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.20 and a 200 day moving average of $50.94. Flowserve has a twelve month low of $38.07 and a twelve month high of $62.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 30.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.41.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Flowserve will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.