Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 34,738 Shares of Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) by 80.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 34,738 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Flowserve worth $4,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FLS. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowserve in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Flowserve during the third quarter worth $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Flowserve by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 711 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in Flowserve during the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Flowserve during the third quarter worth $42,000. 93.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flowserve Stock Down 1.5 %

FLS stock opened at $50.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.25. Flowserve Co. has a 52 week low of $43.66 and a 52 week high of $65.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Flowserve had a net margin of 6.20% and a return on equity of 17.08%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowserve Co. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on FLS shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Flowserve from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Flowserve from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Baird R W raised Flowserve from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Flowserve from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.60.

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.