Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,370,000 shares, an increase of 41.6% from the April 30th total of 2,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Flowserve by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,477,208 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $775,209,000 after buying an additional 101,668 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Flowserve by 71.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,255,059 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $302,271,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,904 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Flowserve by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,856,358 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $237,185,000 after purchasing an additional 248,273 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Flowserve by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,925,459 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $168,272,000 after purchasing an additional 258,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowserve by 6.8% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,741,538 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $133,897,000 after purchasing an additional 173,528 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.93% of the company's stock.

Flowserve Stock Up 2.3%

NYSE:FLS traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $50.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,320,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,300,609. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.21. Flowserve has a 1-year low of $37.34 and a 1-year high of $65.08. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $46.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.14.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 6.20%. The business's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Flowserve will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Flowserve's payout ratio is 39.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Flowserve from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho set a $60.00 target price on shares of Flowserve in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Flowserve from $72.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Flowserve from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.00.

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.