Fluor (NYSE:FLR) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Baird R W

Fluor (NYSE:FLR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Baird R W from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Fluor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Fluor from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Fluor from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on Fluor from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Fluor in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fluor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.86.

Fluor Stock Performance

Shares of FLR stock opened at $50.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.89. Fluor has a fifty-two week low of $35.04 and a fifty-two week high of $60.10. 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 price of $53.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.15.

Fluor (NYSE:FLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The construction company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. Fluor had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 1.64%. 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. Analysts expect that Fluor will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Fluor

In other Fluor news, insider Thomas P. D’agostino sold 7,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.39, for a total transaction of $433,131.59. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 137,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,780,353.86. This trade represents a 5.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph L. Brennan sold 11,619 shares of Fluor stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.30, for a total value of $584,435.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,972.40. The trade was a 21.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,607 shares of company stock valued at $4,063,720 in the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fluor

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLR. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Fluor during the second quarter valued at about $47,559,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Fluor in the 3rd quarter worth $39,289,000. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Fluor by 23.6% during the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,214,521 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $139,992,000 after acquiring an additional 614,521 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 457,220 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Fluor by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,547,243 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $110,930,000 after purchasing an additional 323,111 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.