Vestcor Inc Purchases 5,241 Shares of Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc significantly increased its holdings in Flowserve Corporation by 127.8%, owning 9,343 shares valued at approximately $456,000 as of its latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including Vontobel Holding Ltd and KBC Group NV, have also made adjustments to their positions, with 93.93% of Flowserve's stock currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Analyst ratings for Flowserve have improved, with upgrades from Royal Bank of Canada and Stifel Nicolaus, raising the target price to $66.00 and indicating positive sentiment towards the stock.

Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS - Free Report) by 127.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,343 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 5,241 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Flowserve were worth $456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Flowserve by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 66,519 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,826,000 after acquiring an additional 7,302 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Flowserve by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 353,387 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,327,000 after buying an additional 63,686 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Flowserve by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 18,752 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Flowserve by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 71,353 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,104,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Flowserve by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on FLS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Flowserve from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Flowserve from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Flowserve from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Mizuho set a $60.00 price target on Flowserve in a report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $65.78.

Flowserve Trading Down 3.4%

FLS traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $51.97. 1,480,597 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,110,379. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $51.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.57. Flowserve Corporation has a 1-year low of $37.34 and a 1-year high of $65.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Flowserve Announces Dividend

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

Flowserve 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.