Short Interest in Fluor Co. (NYSE:FLR) Expands By 5.6%

Fluor Co. (NYSE:FLR) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,600,000 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the October 31st total of 6,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Fluor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FLR traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $54.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,067,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,708,622. The company has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.13 and a 200-day moving average of $48.05. Fluor has a 12-month low of $35.04 and a 12-month high of $60.10.

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

Insider Activity

In other Fluor news, CFO Joseph L. Brennan sold 11,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.30, for a total transaction of $584,435.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 41,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,107,972.40. The trade was a 21.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mark E. Fields sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $8,327,158.35. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 81,261 shares of company stock valued at $4,360,074. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fluor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FLR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Fluor by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 103,721 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,386,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Fluor by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 26,285 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 3,426 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Fluor by 20.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 78,374 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,311,000 after acquiring an additional 13,203 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Fluor by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,727 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Fluor by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 27,326 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FLR shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Fluor from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Fluor from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Fluor from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup upgraded Fluor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Fluor from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.29.

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.