Expect Equity LLC Purchases Shares of 63,950 Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS)

Expect Equity LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 63,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,678,000. Flowserve accounts for approximately 3.8% of Expect Equity LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Flowserve by 71.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,255,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $302,271,000 after buying an additional 2,193,904 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Flowserve in the 4th quarter worth $94,629,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position in Flowserve by 307.1% during the fourth quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,888,917 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,651,000 after buying an additional 1,424,948 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Flowserve by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,068,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $118,953,000 after purchasing an additional 714,063 shares during the period. Finally, Varenne Capital Partners acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve in the 4th quarter valued at $26,216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Flowserve Stock Performance

Shares of FLS stock opened at $47.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.83. Flowserve Co. has a one year low of $37.34 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, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 6.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Flowserve Co. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on Flowserve from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Flowserve from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Flowserve from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Baird R W raised Flowserve from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.11.

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.