Head-To-Head Comparison: General Steel (OTCMKTS:GSIH) versus L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR)

General Steel (OTCMKTS:GSIH) and L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares General Steel and L.B. Foster’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
General Steel	N/A	N/A	N/A
L.B. Foster	7.19%	3.64%	1.88%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.6% of L.B. Foster shares are held by institutional investors. 53.3% of General Steel shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of L.B. Foster shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares General Steel and L.B. Foster”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
General Steel	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
L.B. Foster	$530.77 million	0.55	$42.95 million	$3.32	8.31

L.B. Foster has higher revenue and earnings than General Steel.

Risk & Volatility

General Steel has a beta of -0.93, meaning that its share price is 193% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, L.B. Foster has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for General Steel and L.B. Foster, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
General Steel	0	0	0	0	0.00
L.B. Foster	1	1	0	0	1.50

L.B. Foster has a consensus target price of $25.00, indicating a potential downside of 9.42%. Given L.B. Foster’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe L.B. Foster is more favorable than General Steel.

Summary

L.B. Foster beats General Steel on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About General Steel

General Steel Holdings, Inc. engages in the business of cell research, development, storage, and cell culture service in the People's Republic of China. General Steel Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

About L.B. Foster

L.B. Foster Company provides engineered and manufactured products and services for the building and infrastructure projects in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Rail, Technologies, and Services; and Infrastructure Solutions. The Rail, Technologies, and Services segment offers new rail to passenger and short line freight railroads, industrial companies, and rail contractors, as well as used rails; rail accessories, such as rack spikes, bolts, angle bars, tie plates, and other products; insulated rail joints and related accessories; fixation fasteners, coverboards, and special accessories; and trackwork products. This segment also provides engineered concrete railroad ties, friction management products and application systems, railroad condition monitoring systems and equipment including wheel impact load detection systems, wayside data collection and management systems, and rockfall, flood, earthworks, and bridge strike monitoring; and aftermarket services. The Infrastructure Solutions segment manufactures precast concrete products for use as restrooms, concession stands, and protective storage buildings under the CXT brand for national, state, and municipal parks; and manufactures sounds walls, bridge beams, box culverts, septic tanks, and other custom pre-stressed and precast concrete products. This segment also provides steel bridge products; corrosion protection solutions; concrete-reinforced steel grid decking, open steel grid deck, aluminum bridge railing, and stay-in-place steel bridge forms; cuts, threads, and paints pipe; threading services for water well applications; protective pipeline coating services; and turnkey solutions for metering and injection systems for oil and gas markets. L.B. Foster Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.