Fluor Stock Declines on Analyst’s Warning

Shares of Fluor Corp. slumped nearly 8% Friday, the second sharp decline this week, after Merrill Lynch & Co. recommended that investors sell the stock because the company’s profit this year and next will be less than analysts’ forecasts.

Shares of the Aliso Viejo engineering and construction-services company fell $3.74 to $45.04 on the New York Stock Exchange after Merrill analyst Fritz Von Carp cut his rating to near-term “reduce” from “accumulate.”

He said the petroleum-refining market, Fluor’s greatest revenue source, has been slower to improve than expected. Fluor shares fell 14% Wednesday amid concern that federal caps on electricity prices will blunt power plant construction.