Short Interest in Fluor Co. (NYSE:FLR) Expands By 33.6%

Fluor Co. (NYSE:FLR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,270,000 shares, an increase of 33.6% from the December 31st total of 6,940,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on FLR shares. Baird R W lowered Fluor from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Fluor from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Fluor from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Fluor from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $58.00 price target (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Fluor in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.29.

Fluor Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:FLR traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.30. The company had a trading volume of 2,717,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,463,630. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.33. Fluor has a one year low of $35.04 and a one year high of $60.10.

Fluor (NYSE:FLR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The construction company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.25). Fluor had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.02 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fluor will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Fluor

In other news, insider Mark E. Fields sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.63, for a total value of $2,831,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 147,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,327,158.35. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Thomas P. D’agostino sold 7,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.39, for a total transaction of $433,131.59. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 137,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,780,353.86. This represents a 5.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FLR. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fluor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $484,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fluor by 291.7% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 43,605 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,151,000 after purchasing an additional 32,472 shares during the last quarter. Aequim Alternative Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Fluor by 6.0% during the third quarter. Aequim Alternative Investments LP now owns 742,760 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,437,000 after purchasing an additional 41,800 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Fluor by 139.1% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 17,174 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 9,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Fluor by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,097,931 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $100,092,000 after buying an additional 457,220 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fluor Company Profile

Fluor Corporation provides engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC); fabrication and modularization; operation and maintenance; asset integrity; and project management services worldwide. The company operates through Energy Solutions, Urban Solutions, Mission Solutions, and Other segments. The Energy Solutions segment provides solutions to the energy transition markets, including asset decarbonization, carbon capture, renewable fuels, waste-to-energy, green chemicals, hydrogen, nuclear power, and other low-carbon energy sources.