Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) by 30.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 304,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 134,286 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Flowserve were worth $15,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Flowserve during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Flowserve during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Flowserve by 159.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 166.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. 93.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowserve Trading Up 0.1 %

Flowserve stock opened at $59.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.38. Flowserve Co. has a 1 year low of $37.24 and a 1 year high of $61.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.91.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Flowserve Co. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Flowserve from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Flowserve from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Flowserve from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Flowserve in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Flowserve from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.10.

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.