Freightcar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Freightcar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) saw a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 206,079 shares, a decline of 42.3% from the February 26th total of 357,441 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 330,515 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RAIL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Freightcar America from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Freightcar America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Freightcar America Stock Up 0.4%

RAIL traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 128,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,138. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.17. Freightcar America has a 1 year low of $4.31 and a 1 year high of $14.90. The company has a market cap of $153.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 1.75.

Freightcar America (NASDAQ:RAIL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The transportation company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.02). Freightcar America had a net margin of 7.61% and a negative return on equity of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $125.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.95 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Freightcar America will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Freightcar America by 208.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,935 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,984 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Freightcar America by 2,843.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,062 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 3,924 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Freightcar America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Freightcar America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Freightcar America in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.96% of the company’s stock.

About Freightcar America

FreightCar America, Inc is a designer and manufacturer of specialized railroad freight cars, offering a diverse range of products that include tank cars, open and covered hoppers, gondolas, boxcars and centerbeam lumber cars. The company supports both new car construction and the rebuilding of existing fleets, providing custom engineering solutions to meet customer specifications and industry regulations. FreightCar America also supplies aftermarket parts, maintenance services and component remanufacturing for its own fleet and for third-party car owners.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, FreightCar America traces its origins to early 20th-century railcar builders and began trading as an independent, publicly-listed company on the NASDAQ under the ticker RAIL following a spin-off in 2010.