Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Key Points

• Flowserve has been upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating.
• The stock currently has a consensus target price of $65.78, reflecting positive sentiment among analysts.
• Despite the upgrades, Flowserve's shares experienced a slight decline, trading at $52.78 recently.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on FLS. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Flowserve from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Flowserve from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Flowserve from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Flowserve in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowserve currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.78.

Flowserve Stock Down 0.2%

FLS traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $52.78. 1,547,203 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,283,331. The company has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.27. Flowserve has a one year low of $37.34 and a one year high of $65.08. The company's fifty day moving average price is $54.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.22 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Flowserve will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowserve news, insider Kirk Wilson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total transaction of $532,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 37,196 shares in the company, valued at $1,979,571.12. This trade represents a 21.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flowserve

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FLS. KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Flowserve by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,809 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 3.2% in the first quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,657 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Flowserve by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 28,222 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Flowserve by 4.8% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,676 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Flowserve by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,580 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. 93.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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