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

Fluor Co. (NYSE:FLR) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,270,000 shares, an increase of 33.6% from the December 15th 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FLR. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Fluor by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,622 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $190,953,000 after buying an additional 51,018 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Fluor by 23.6% in the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,214,521 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $139,992,000 after acquiring an additional 614,521 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Fluor by 14.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,547,243 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $110,930,000 after purchasing an additional 323,111 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Fluor by 27.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,097,931 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $100,092,000 after purchasing an additional 457,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Fluor by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,004,775 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $95,648,000 after purchasing an additional 9,789 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fluor Stock Up 0.3 %

Fluor stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $49.44. The stock had a trading volume of 3,019,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,098,801. The company has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.96, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Fluor has a one year low of $35.04 and a one year high of $60.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.91.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FLR. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $58.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Fluor in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Baird R W lowered Fluor from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Fluor from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Fluor from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Fluor from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.14.

About Fluor

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.