Short Interest in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Grows By 37.2%

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,990,000 shares, an increase of 37.2% from the December 31st total of 2,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Flowserve

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Flowserve by 197.6% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 913,268 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $47,207,000 after acquiring an additional 606,416 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 34.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,664,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $86,055,000 after purchasing an additional 422,141 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Flowserve by 66.0% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 555,115 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $31,930,000 after purchasing an additional 220,805 shares during the last quarter. Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new position in Flowserve in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,182,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowserve by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 893,200 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $46,170,000 after buying an additional 120,396 shares during the period. 93.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowserve Price Performance

Shares of Flowserve stock traded up $1.66 on Thursday, reaching $63.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 533,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,244,418. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.38. Flowserve has a 52-week low of $39.69 and a 52-week high of $65.08.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.05). Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Flowserve will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Flowserve's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Flowserve from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Flowserve from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Flowserve from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.50.

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.