Citigroup Cuts Fluor (NYSE:FLR) Price Target to $56.00

Fluor (NYSE:FLR) had its target price dropped by research analysts at Citigroup from $61.00 to $56.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the construction company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 26.83% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Fluor from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Fluor from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Fluor in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fluor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Fluor from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

Fluor Trading Up 1.9%

FLR stock traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $44.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 635,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,704,922. Fluor has a 52 week low of $37.04 and a 52 week high of $57.50. The stock has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.96.

Fluor (NYSE:FLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The construction company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. Fluor had a return on equity of 5.90% and a net margin of 2.30%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fluor will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Fluor

In other news, insider Mark E. Fields sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.36, for a total transaction of $271,120.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 194,514 shares in the company, valued at $10,184,753.04. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Pierre Edward Bechelany sold 4,581 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total transaction of $243,251.10. Following the sale, the insider owned 32,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,738,918.80. This trade represents a 12.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,110 shares of company stock worth $1,168,920. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fluor

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Fluor by 8.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,137,672 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $174,077,000 after acquiring an additional 328,122 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in Fluor during the fourth quarter worth $1,350,000. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Fluor by 35.4% during the third quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 325,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,673,000 after acquiring an additional 85,000 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Fluor during the third quarter worth $3,475,000. Finally, Goodman Financial Corp bought a new position in Fluor during the fourth quarter worth $7,610,000. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fluor Company Profile

Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) is a global engineering and construction firm that provides integrated solutions across the energy, chemicals, mining, clean energy, infrastructure and government services markets. The company’s core offerings include engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, maintenance and project management services, with capabilities spanning feasibility studies, detailed design and turnkey delivery. Fluor’s diversified portfolio encompasses conventional oil and gas facilities, liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, petrochemical facilities, power generation projects, transportation infrastructure and federal government programs.

Founded in 1912 by John Simon Fluor as the Fluor Construction Company in Pomona, California, the firm has grown into an industry leader headquartered in Irving, Texas.