Flowserve price target raised to $53 from $51 at Stifel

Stifel analyst Nathan Jones raised the firm’s price target on Flowserve to $53 from $51 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. In a Q1 preview for the diversified industrials group, the firm says it is “generally fairly neutral on stocks under our coverage” with an expectation that companies will be seeing improving demand fundamentals with improving short cycle and waning inventory destocking, offset by the strong performance of the stocks during the quarter. In general, the firm is expecting management commentary to be more positive on the second half, while maintaining a relatively cautious approach to guidance, the analyst tells investors in the preview.