Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 134,286 Shares of Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS - Free Report) by 30.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 304,103 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 134,286 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Flowserve worth $15,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Flowserve by 185.9% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 569 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowserve in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Flowserve during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.93% of the company's stock.

Flowserve Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:FLS traded down $0.47 on Friday, reaching $57.78. 492,169 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,110,849. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.41. Flowserve Co. has a 1-year low of $39.21 and a 1-year high of $62.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company's 50 day moving average is $58.47 and its 200-day moving average is $52.27.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Flowserve Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Flowserve's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on FLS shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on Flowserve from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Flowserve from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $64.40.

Flowserve 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.