DOW Dow Inc

Recently, Fluor Corporation (FLR) and Dow Chemical Company (DOW) entered into an agreement to provide Strategic Global Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) and Construction Management services to support Dow’s global capital projects program covering all Dow products. The agreement is for a period of three years, with an option to be extended by up to five years. Any upcoming new projects worldwide are also included in the agreement.

Dow serves customers in 160 countries in sectors including electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. Currently, Fluor is working on coatings and water treatment project in Jubail, Saudi Arabia providing its front-end loading services.

Fluor’s new awards in 2011 continue to be strong at $26.9 billion. The company benefits from substantial mining & metals volume, as well as sizable orders within the Oil & Gas segment. Besides, consolidated backlog rose to a new year ending high of $39.5 billion, an increase of 13% from the end of 2010. The company’s international marketremained robust, with 84% of awards derived from outside the US with focus on Australia, the Middle East, Latin America and Canada.

Though the company maintained its 2012 earnings guidance and remains well positioned for growth in its diversified market, the prevailing uncertain market remains a matter of concern at least for the first half of the year.

Acting through its subsidiaries, Fluor Corporation is one of the largest professional services firms, providing engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance as well as project management services on a global basis. It serves a diverse set of industries worldwide, including oil and gas, chemical and petrochemicals, transportation, mining and metals, power, life sciences and manufacturing. It is also a primary service provider to the U.S. federal government.  The company’s prime competitor is Jacob’s Engineering Group (JEC).

We continue to maintain a Neutral rating on Fluor Corporation, with a Zacks #3 Rank (Hold recommendation) over the next one-to-three months.

 
DOW CHEMICAL (DOW): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
FLUOR CORP-NEW (FLR): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
JACOBS ENGIN GR (JEC): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research