Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS) Stake Boosted by Varenne Capital Partners

Key Points

• Varenne Capital Partners increased its stake in Flowserve Corporation by 5.6%, making it the company's 4th largest position in its investment portfolio.
• Flowserve's recent earnings report showed that the company achieved $0.91 earnings per share, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.78, with a net margin of 6.28%.
• Several analysts, including Royal Bank of Canada and Citigroup, have upgraded their price targets on Flowserve, now averaging $65.78 with a consensus rating of "Buy."

Varenne Capital Partners grew its stake in shares of Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 481,408 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 25,631 shares during the period. Flowserve accounts for about 8.4% of Varenne Capital Partners' investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Varenne Capital Partners owned about 0.37% of Flowserve worth $23,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Flowserve by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 242,383 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $13,942,000 after purchasing an additional 12,644 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its position in Flowserve by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 5,792 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Flowserve in the fourth quarter worth $14,546,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Flowserve by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 57,739 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,321,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Flowserve by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,846 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.93% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flowserve news, insider Kirk Wilson sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $532,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Flowserve Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE:FLS opened at $53.93 on Thursday. Flowserve Corporation has a 1-year low of $37.34 and a 1-year high of $65.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.88 and a 200 day moving average of $51.17. The firm has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

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

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Flowserve's dividend payout ratio is 38.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FLS has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Mizuho set a $60.00 price target on shares of Flowserve in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Flowserve from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Flowserve has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.78.

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.

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