William Blair Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in Flowserve Corporation $FLS

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Flowserve Corporation by 4,997.4%, acquiring a total of 429,256 shares valued at approximately $22.5 million.
• Flowserve Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $0.84 and a dividend yield of 1.7%.
• Analysts forecast positive growth for Flowserve, with several research firms raising their price targets, the average target being set at $65.88 per share.

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS - Free Report) by 4,997.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 429,256 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 420,835 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.33% of Flowserve worth $22,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Flowserve by 572.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 77,424 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,053,000 after buying an additional 65,914 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Flowserve by 76.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 11,493 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 4,979 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Flowserve by 59.2% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 1,162 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve during the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowserve by 58.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 270,574 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $14,162,000 after buying an additional 99,766 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kirk Wilson sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total transaction of $532,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 37,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,979,571.12. This represents a 21.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Flowserve Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE FLS opened at $50.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.27. Flowserve Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $37.34 and a fifty-two week high of $65.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.22 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Flowserve Corporation will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 26th. Flowserve's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FLS shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Flowserve from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Flowserve in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Flowserve has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.88.

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.

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