L.B. Foster Company (NASDAQ:FSTR) Short Interest Update

L.B. Foster Company (NASDAQ:FSTR) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 171,936 shares, a growth of 17.9% from the February 26th total of 145,829 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 27,837 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other L.B. Foster news, major shareholder Aron R. English sold 78,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.51, for a total transaction of $2,235,583.14. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,107,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,575,053.08. This trade represents a 6.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 112,143 shares of company stock worth $3,205,603. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FSTR. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of L.B. Foster during the 3rd quarter worth $3,767,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in L.B. Foster by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,179,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,785,000 after acquiring an additional 172,492 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in L.B. Foster during the third quarter valued at about $738,000. Minerva Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in L.B. Foster by 5.2% during the second quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 83,965 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 4,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in L.B. Foster during the fourth quarter worth about $180,000. Institutional investors own 80.63% of the company’s stock.

L.B. Foster Stock Performance

Shares of L.B. Foster stock traded up $0.01 on Tuesday, reaching $27.90. 36,598 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,834. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.83 and a 200 day moving average of $28.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.15. L.B. Foster has a 52 week low of $17.16 and a 52 week high of $32.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.65 million, a PE ratio of 40.44 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on shares of L.B. Foster from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of L.B. Foster in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of L.B. Foster from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded L.B. Foster from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.00.

About L.B. Foster

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.