Carpenter Technology (CRS) Competitors

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) and Carpenter Technology (NYSE:CRS) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.

Do analysts rate FSTR or CRS?

L.B. Foster presently has a consensus price target of $25.00, indicating a potential downside of 6.65%. Carpenter Technology has a consensus price target of $278.33, indicating a potential upside of 12.48%. Given Carpenter Technology's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Carpenter Technology is more favorable than L.B. Foster.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
L.B. Foster	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50
Carpenter Technology	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Which has more volatility & risk, FSTR or CRS?

L.B. Foster has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Carpenter Technology has a beta of 1.52, suggesting that its stock price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in FSTR or CRS?

80.6% of L.B. Foster shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.0% of Carpenter Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of L.B. Foster shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Carpenter Technology shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is FSTR or CRS a better dividend stock?

L.B. Foster pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Carpenter Technology pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. L.B. Foster pays out 4.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Carpenter Technology pays out 10.8% 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. L.B. Foster is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has better valuation & earnings, FSTR or CRS?

Carpenter Technology has higher revenue and earnings than L.B. Foster. L.B. Foster is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Carpenter Technology, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
L.B. Foster	$507.00M	0.56	$42.95M	$3.32	8.07
Carpenter Technology	$2.88B	4.29	$376M	$7.42	33.35

Is FSTR or CRS more profitable?

Carpenter Technology has a net margin of 13.07% compared to L.B. Foster's net margin of 7.19%. Carpenter Technology's return on equity of 21.50% beat L.B. Foster's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
L.B. Foster	7.19%	3.64%	1.88%
Carpenter Technology	13.07%	21.50%	11.28%

Does the media prefer FSTR or CRS?

In the previous week, Carpenter Technology had 20 more articles in the media than L.B. Foster. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for Carpenter Technology and 2 mentions for L.B. Foster. Carpenter Technology's average media sentiment score of 1.60 beat L.B. Foster's score of 0.34 indicating that Carpenter Technology is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
L.B. Foster	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Carpenter Technology	19 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

Carpenter Technology beats L.B. Foster on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.