L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on FSTR. Singular Research upgraded L.B. Foster to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of L.B. Foster in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of L.B. Foster from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, L.B. Foster has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

L.B. Foster Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSTR opened at $30.05 on Friday. L.B. Foster has a 52 week low of $17.16 and a 52 week high of $30.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.46. The company has a market cap of $312.31 million, a P/E ratio of 66.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $138.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $154.38 million. L.B. Foster had a return on equity of 2.79% and a net margin of 0.96%. Research analysts predict that L.B. Foster will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at L.B. Foster

In other news, major shareholder Aron R. English sold 34,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.79, for a total value of $911,529.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,204,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,270,108.82. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian H. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.15, for a total transaction of $271,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,583.05. The trade was a 11.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 132,075 shares of company stock worth $3,561,116 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On L.B. Foster

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in L.B. Foster in the fourth quarter worth about $261,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in L.B. Foster during the fourth quarter worth approximately $224,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of L.B. Foster by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 5,264 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in L.B. Foster by 20.4% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 38,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 6,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of L.B. Foster in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $409,000. 80.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

L.B. Foster Company Profile

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.