Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Short Interest Down 11.4% in October

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,480,000 shares, a drop of 11.4% from the October 15th total of 1,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Flowserve in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Flowserve from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Flowserve currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.10.

Flowserve Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of FLS traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $59.56. 921,126 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,095,919. The company has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Flowserve has a 1-year low of $37.24 and a 1-year high of $61.60.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last released its earnings results 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). Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 5.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Flowserve will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FLS. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Flowserve by 155.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,624,919 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,429 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the first quarter worth $41,413,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,100,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Flowserve by 31.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,748,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,221,000 after purchasing an additional 663,631 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $47,207,000 after purchasing an additional 606,416 shares in the last quarter. 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.