L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) Short Interest Down 14.5% in May

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 111,400 shares, a drop of 14.5% from the April 30th total of 130,300 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 45,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Trading of L.B. Foster

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FSTR. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in L.B. Foster during the fourth quarter valued at $1,784,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of L.B. Foster during the 4th quarter worth about $349,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in L.B. Foster by 197.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,368 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 4,225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on FSTR shares. B. Riley started coverage on L.B. Foster in a report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of L.B. Foster from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th.

L.B. Foster Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSTR traded up $0.25 on Friday, reaching $19.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,512. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.70. L.B. Foster has a 52-week low of $14.23 and a 52-week high of $29.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.27. The company has a market cap of $204.00 million, a P/E ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.96.

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.21). L.B. Foster had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 7.96%. The company had revenue of $97.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $114.40 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that L.B. Foster will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

L.B. Foster declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to reacquire up to 16.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

L.B. Foster Company Profile

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.