Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Stake in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in shares of Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,143,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 459,587 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Flowserve were worth $123,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Flowserve during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Flowserve in the third quarter worth about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 711 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Flowserve in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in Flowserve in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 93.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowserve Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of FLS opened at $50.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.43. Flowserve Co. has a one year low of $43.66 and a one year high of $65.08.

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

Flowserve Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on FLS. StockNews.com cut shares of Flowserve from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird raised Flowserve from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $71.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Flowserve from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Flowserve from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.60.

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.