L.B. Foster Company (NASDAQ:FSTR) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

L.B. Foster Company (NASDAQ:FSTR) saw a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 145,829 shares, a decline of 14.7% from the February 12th total of 170,965 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 15,964 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.1 days. Based on an average trading volume of 15,964 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.1 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FSTR shares. Singular Research upgraded L.B. Foster to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on L.B. Foster from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen cut L.B. Foster from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Zacks Research lowered L.B. Foster from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of L.B. Foster in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other L.B. Foster news, major shareholder Aron R. English sold 5,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total transaction of $163,916.76. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,185,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,937,644.78. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in L.B. Foster by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in L.B. Foster by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 63,033 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,699,000 after purchasing an additional 4,784 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of L.B. Foster in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of L.B. Foster by 93,700.0% during the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 9,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 9,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of L.B. Foster by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 19,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 3,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.63% of the company’s stock.

L.B. Foster Price Performance

FSTR stock opened at $27.24 on Monday. L.B. Foster has a 1 year low of $17.16 and a 1 year high of $32.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $280.84 million, a PE ratio of 39.48 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.04.

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $160.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.83 million. L.B. Foster had a return on equity of 4.32% and a net margin of 1.40%. Equities research analysts anticipate that L.B. Foster will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

L.B. Foster Company Profile

L.B. Foster Company is a diversified infrastructure solutions provider offering products and services to the transportation, energy, and construction markets. Founded in 1902 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company has built a reputation for delivering specialty materials and engineering solutions that support critical infrastructure projects across various industries.

The company’s operations are organized into three primary segments: Rail Products & Services, Construction Products, and Tubular & Energy Products.