Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) Hits New 52-Week High at $49.98

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $49.98 and last traded at $49.86, with a volume of 37861 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $49.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FLS shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Flowserve from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Flowserve from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on Flowserve from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Flowserve from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Flowserve from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.55.

Flowserve Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.88. The firm has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.42. The company's 50 day moving average is $46.37 and its 200 day moving average is $42.23.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Flowserve had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 5.29%. Flowserve's revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Flowserve Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Flowserve's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Flowserve's payout ratio is 47.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Flowserve by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,405,458 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $552,573,000 after acquiring an additional 144,704 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Flowserve by 2.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,134,913 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $403,065,000 after purchasing an additional 246,636 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Flowserve by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,003,699 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $82,595,000 after purchasing an additional 157,125 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Flowserve during the 4th quarter worth about $59,261,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Flowserve by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,296,034 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $51,543,000 after buying an additional 3,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.93% of the company's stock.

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.