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

L.B. Foster Company (NASDAQ:FSTR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 177,068 shares, a growth of 93.5% from the May 31st total of 91,517 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 76,939 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

L.B. Foster Price Performance

NASDAQ:FSTR remained flat at $42.76 during mid-day trading on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 111,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 98,166. The company has a market cap of $447.23 million, a PE ratio of 41.51 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.97 and a 200 day moving average of $33.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 2.22. L.B. Foster has a 12-month low of $21.67 and a 12-month high of $45.81.

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $121.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $104.30 million. L.B. Foster had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 6.36%. Equities analysts expect that L.B. Foster will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of L.B. Foster from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of L.B. Foster from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of L.B. Foster from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On L.B. Foster

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Comerica Bank increased its position in L.B. Foster by 356.7% during the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new stake in shares of L.B. Foster during the 1st quarter worth about $47,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of L.B. Foster by 189.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of L.B. Foster during the 2nd quarter valued at about $122,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of L.B. Foster by 469.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. 80.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.