Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys Shares of 4,828 Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Flowserve by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,886,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $201,685,000 after acquiring an additional 37,132 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc bought a new position in shares of Flowserve during the 3rd quarter valued at about $714,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Flowserve by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 244,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,619,000 after purchasing an additional 29,979 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Flowserve during the 4th quarter worth approximately $800,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Flowserve by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. 93.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flowserve Stock Performance

Shares of FLS opened at $52.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $57.27 and a 200-day moving average of $56.46. Flowserve Co. has a one year low of $43.66 and a one year high of $65.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.07). Flowserve had a net margin of 6.20% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Flowserve Co. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Flowserve’s payout ratio is 39.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FLS shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Flowserve from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Flowserve from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Flowserve from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $71.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.60.

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.