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

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

Fluor Price Performance

Shares of FLR stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $49.44. The company 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 P/E ratio of 32.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.91. Fluor has a 52-week low of $35.04 and a 52-week high of $60.10. 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 (NYSE:FLR) last announced 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Fluor will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $2,831,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 147,045 shares in the company, valued at $8,327,158.35. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 137,974 shares in the company, valued at $7,780,353.86. This trade represents a 5.27 % 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fluor

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Fluor by 2,509.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 548 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Fluor during the second quarter valued at $52,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Fluor by 244.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,327 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Fluor in the 3rd quarter worth $96,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Fluor in the 3rd quarter worth about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FLR. Baird R W cut Fluor from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Fluor from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup raised shares of Fluor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Fluor from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Fluor in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.14.

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.