Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,270,000 shares, a growth of 22.9% from the May 15th total of 9,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 6.8% of the company's stock are sold short.

Fluor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FLR traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $49.55. The stock had a trading volume of 8,491,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,585,711. The firm has a market cap of $8.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.75, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Fluor has a fifty-two week low of $29.20 and a fifty-two week high of $60.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.84 and a 200-day moving average of $42.55.

Fluor (NYSE:FLR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The construction company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. Fluor had a return on equity of 14.59% and a net margin of 11.13%. The company's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Fluor will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $41.00 target price on shares of Fluor in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays set a $40.00 price objective on Fluor and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Fluor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Fluor from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Fluor from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman David E. Constable sold 40,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $1,999,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 870,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,660,723. The trade was a 4.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvin C. Collins III sold 18,920 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.43, for a total value of $859,535.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,924,919.69. This represents a 22.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fluor

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Fluor by 329.5% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,986,095 shares of the construction company's stock worth $97,954,000 after buying an additional 1,523,647 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Fluor by 4,097.7% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,332,307 shares of the construction company's stock worth $47,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,568 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Fluor by 43.4% during the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,646,837 shares of the construction company's stock worth $130,630,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104,350 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Fluor by 10,125.9% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,056,946 shares of the construction company's stock worth $52,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,610 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fluor by 145.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,625,776 shares of the construction company's stock worth $57,276,000 after purchasing an additional 962,382 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.07% of the company's stock.

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.