L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) Short Interest Up 48.1% in March

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 135,100 shares, an increase of 48.1% from the March 15th total of 91,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 40,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FSTR. StockNews.com cut shares of L.B. Foster from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of L.B. Foster from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th.

L.B. Foster Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ FSTR traded down $0.55 on Friday, hitting $25.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,897. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. L.B. Foster has a 1-year low of $10.26 and a 1-year high of $27.93. The company's 50-day moving average is $24.64 and its 200 day moving average is $21.99. The firm has a market cap of $281.71 million, a PE ratio of 197.02 and a beta of 0.78.

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The basic materials company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.01). L.B. Foster had a net margin of 0.27% and a return on equity of 2.18%. The business had revenue of $134.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that L.B. Foster will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On L.B. Foster

An institutional investor recently raised its position in L.B. Foster stock. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR - Free Report) by 31.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,005 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 24,182 shares during the quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP owned about 0.93% of L.B. Foster worth $987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.63% of the company's stock.

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.

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