Analyst Jamie Cook called shares of Fluor Corp. and Foster Wheeler AG "top picks" in a note to investors on Wednesday. The companies build infrastructure to ship natural gas, and their shares have been depressed because natural gas prices have been relatively low. Natural gas prices are trading around $4 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's higher than the same time last year but only about half of what natural gas traded for in 2008.
Cook said prospects for new contract awards and additional backlog for oil and natural gas work "should ramp up in 2011," citing private industry sources. "Areas of optimism include Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Australia, Brazil, India, China and Iraq, but longer term," Cook said. Cook maintained an "Outperform" rating on Fluor with a $56 price target. He maintained the same rating on Foster Wheeler with a price target of $31. Shares of Fluor fell 9 cents to $48.85 in morning trading. Shares of Foster Wheeler fell 18 cents to $24.22.
From INO.Com/AP
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