Fluor (NYSE:FLR) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Fluor Co. (NYSE:FLR - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $43.40, but opened at $41.65. Fluor shares last traded at $40.36, with a volume of 1,225,546 shares.

The construction company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. Fluor had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 15.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Fluor from $58.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Baird R W lowered Fluor from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Fluor from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Fluor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Fluor from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mark E. Fields sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $8,327,158.35. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas P. D'agostino sold 7,681 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,780,353.86. The trade was a 5.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLR. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position 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 valued at $97,954,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523,647 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Fluor by 10,125.9% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,056,946 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $52,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,610 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Fluor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,289,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fluor by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,952,254 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $96,285,000 after acquiring an additional 719,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yaupon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Fluor in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,353,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company's stock.

Fluor Trading Down 5.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.69. The stock's fifty day moving average is $48.66 and its 200 day moving average is $50.01. The stock has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.89.

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.