Royal Bank of Canada Increases Stock Holdings in Flowserve Corporation $FLS

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Flowserve Corporation by 135.6% during the first quarter, owning 349,917 shares valued at approximately $17 million.
• Flowserve Corporation reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.78.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.5%, set to be paid on October 10th.

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS - Free Report) by 135.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 349,917 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 201,420 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.27% of Flowserve worth $17,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 71.5% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,029 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 47.2% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,089 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the first quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 1,577.1% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. 93.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Flowserve from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Flowserve from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Flowserve from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Flowserve from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.78.

Flowserve Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Flowserve stock traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $56.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,480,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,479,548. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Flowserve Corporation has a 1 year low of $37.34 and a 1 year high of $65.08.

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

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 26th. Flowserve's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.01%.

Insider Activity at Flowserve

In other news, insider Kirk Wilson sold 10,000 shares of the firm's 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 directly owned 37,196 shares in the company, valued at $1,979,571.12. This trade represents a 21.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.