L.B. Foster Company (NASDAQ:FSTR) Short Interest Down 28.7% in April

Key Points

• Short interest in L.B. Foster was down 28.7% in April to 106,795 shares, about 1.1% of the float, with a short-interest ratio of 1.0 days.
• L.B. Foster missed quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.22 versus a $0.66 consensus (a $0.44 miss) while revenue slightly beat estimates.
• Insiders sold 152,074 shares last quarter — including a 38,431-share sale by major holder Aron R. English — while insiders own 7.6% and institutions own 80.63%; analysts' consensus target is $32 with an average "Hold" rating.

L.B. Foster Company (NASDAQ:FSTR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 106,795 shares, a drop of 28.7% from the March 31st total of 149,848 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 106,143 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

L.B. Foster Stock Down 0.7%

FSTR opened at $31.81 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $332.73 million, a P/E ratio of 46.10 and a beta of 1.01. L.B. Foster has a 12 month low of $17.16 and a 12 month high of $32.63. The business's 50-day moving average price is $29.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.54.

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.44). The business had revenue of $160.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.83 million. L.B. Foster had a return on equity of 4.32% and a net margin of 1.40%. On average, equities analysts expect that L.B. Foster will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other L.B. Foster news, major shareholder Aron R. English sold 38,431 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $1,077,989.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,027,255 shares in the company, valued at $28,814,502.75. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 152,074 shares of company stock worth $4,325,623 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of L.B. Foster

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FSTR. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of L.B. Foster in the third quarter worth about $3,767,000. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of L.B. Foster by 593.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 68,923 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 58,988 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of L.B. Foster by 161.7% in the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 51,285 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,685 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of L.B. Foster in the third quarter worth about $738,000. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its stake in shares of L.B. Foster by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,360,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,663,000 after purchasing an additional 20,371 shares during the last quarter. 80.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on FSTR shares. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on L.B. Foster from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research downgraded L.B. Foster from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of L.B. Foster in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded L.B. Foster from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.

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