L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

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

L.B. Foster Stock Up 3.5%

FSTR stock opened at $31.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.55. L.B. Foster has a 52 week low of $17.16 and a 52 week high of $31.40. The company has a market cap of $323.12 million, a P/E ratio of 69.09 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Insider Activity at L.B. Foster

In related news, CEO Brian H. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 79,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,583.05. This trade represents a 11.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Aron R. English sold 34,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.79, for a total value of $911,529.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,204,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,270,108.82. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 132,075 shares of company stock worth $3,561,116 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On L.B. Foster

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in L.B. Foster by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,179,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,785,000 after buying an additional 172,492 shares during the last quarter. Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of L.B. Foster during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,767,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of L.B. Foster by 161.7% in the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 51,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,685 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of L.B. Foster in the third quarter worth approximately $738,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in L.B. Foster in the second quarter valued at approximately $489,000. 80.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About L.B. Foster

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.