Earnest Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Flowserve Corporation $FLS

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Flowserve Corporation by 6.8%, acquiring an additional 173,528 shares, totaling 2,741,538 shares valued at approximately $133.9 million.
• Several analysts have adjusted their target prices for Flowserve, with a consensus target of $65.78 and ratings varying from "strong buy" to "hold."
• Flowserve announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, payable on October 10th, indicating a 1.5% yield and a payout ratio of 38.01%.

Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,741,538 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 173,528 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 2.10% of Flowserve worth $133,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Flowserve during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its stake in Flowserve by 415.7% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 593 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Flowserve by 71.5% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,029 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Flowserve by 80.1% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 886 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC bought a new stake in Flowserve during the first quarter valued at $53,000. 93.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on FLS. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Flowserve from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Flowserve from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Mizuho set a $60.00 price objective on Flowserve in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Flowserve from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $65.78.

Flowserve Price Performance

NYSE FLS traded down $1.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.66. 1,240,351 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,482,098. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.34. Flowserve Corporation has a 1 year low of $37.34 and a 1 year high of $65.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.28.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.13. Flowserve had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 6.28%.The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. On average, analysts predict that Flowserve Corporation will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 26th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Flowserve's payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Insider Activity at Flowserve

In other news, insider Kirk Wilson sold 10,000 shares of Flowserve stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $532,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 37,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,979,571.12. The trade was a 21.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

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.