Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Short Interest Down 7.4% in November

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the October 31st total of 1,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FLS shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on Flowserve from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Flowserve from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Flowserve in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.30.

Institutional Trading of Flowserve

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

Flowserve Price Performance

Flowserve stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $61.79. The stock had a trading volume of 136,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,101,942. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.47, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Flowserve has a 1-year low of $38.07 and a 1-year high of $62.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $56.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.94.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.05). The business 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 business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Flowserve will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.