Short Interest in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Grows By 50.3%

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,180,000 shares, an increase of 50.3% from the November 30th total of 1,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Flowserve from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Flowserve from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Flowserve from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $57.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowserve currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.40.

Flowserve Stock Performance

Shares of FLS stock traded down $0.47 on Friday, reaching $57.78. The stock had a trading volume of 492,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,110,849. Flowserve has a 12 month low of $39.21 and a 12 month high of $62.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's 50-day moving average is $58.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.27.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Flowserve had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Flowserve's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Flowserve will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Flowserve's payout ratio is presently 41.58%.

Institutional Trading of Flowserve

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Flowserve during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Flowserve during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Flowserve in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Flowserve in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Flowserve by 185.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 569 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.93% of the company's stock.

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.