FSTR vs. HWKN, LIN, KOP, GRC, ERII, HY, GHM, CMCO, OFLX, and PLL
Should you be buying L.B. Foster stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of L.B. Foster include Hawkins (HWKN), Linde (LIN), Koppers (KOP), Gorman-Rupp (GRC), Energy Recovery (ERII), Hyster-Yale (HY), Graham (GHM), Columbus McKinnon (CMCO), Omega Flex (OFLX), and Piedmont Lithium (PLL).
L.B. Foster vs. Its Competitors
L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) and Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, media sentiment and institutional ownership.
Hawkins has a net margin of 8.37% compared to L.B. Foster's net margin of 7.19%. Hawkins' return on equity of 18.35% beat L.B. Foster's return on equity.
L.B. Foster currently has a consensus price target of $25.00, suggesting a potential downside of 4.42%. Hawkins has a consensus price target of $162.50, suggesting a potential downside of 3.95%. Given Hawkins' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Hawkins is more favorable than L.B. Foster.
In the previous week, Hawkins had 11 more articles in the media than L.B. Foster. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Hawkins and 5 mentions for L.B. Foster. Hawkins' average media sentiment score of 0.81 beat L.B. Foster's score of 0.52 indicating that Hawkins is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Hawkins has higher revenue and earnings than L.B. Foster. L.B. Foster is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hawkins, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
L.B. Foster has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hawkins has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.
L.B. Foster pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Hawkins pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. L.B. Foster pays out 4.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hawkins pays out 18.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Hawkins has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years. L.B. Foster is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
80.6% of L.B. Foster shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.7% of Hawkins shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of L.B. Foster shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of Hawkins shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Hawkins beats L.B. Foster on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding FSTR and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
L.B. Foster Competitors List
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This page (NASDAQ:FSTR) was last updated on 9/25/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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