Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Short Interest Update

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,990,000 shares, an increase of 37.2% from the December 31st total of 2,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.50.

Institutional Trading of Flowserve

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Flowserve by 197.6% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 913,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,207,000 after buying an additional 606,416 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Flowserve by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,664,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $86,055,000 after acquiring an additional 422,141 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 555,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,930,000 after purchasing an additional 220,805 shares during the last quarter. Regents Gate Capital LLP bought a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the fourth quarter worth $9,182,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 15.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 893,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,170,000 after purchasing an additional 120,396 shares in the last quarter. 93.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Flowserve Stock Down 0.5 %

Flowserve stock opened at $62.66 on Friday. Flowserve has a twelve month low of $39.69 and a twelve month high of $65.08. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $60.42 and a 200-day moving average of $54.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a PE ratio of 31.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.42.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.58%.

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.