HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Takes $15 Million Position in Flowserve Corporation $FLS

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 307,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,004,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Flowserve by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 302,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Flowserve by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 26.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Flowserve in the 1st quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Flowserve by 453.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 170,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,402,000 after buying an additional 139,939 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kirk Wilson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $532,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 37,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,979,571.12. This trade represents a 21.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Flowserve Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:FLS opened at $52.70 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.28. Flowserve Corporation has a twelve month low of $37.34 and a twelve month high of $65.08.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.13. Flowserve had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 6.28%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Analysts anticipate that Flowserve Corporation will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, September 26th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 26th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FLS. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Flowserve from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Flowserve from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Mizuho set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Flowserve in a report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.78.

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.