Short Interest in Freightcar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) Decreases By 42.3%

Freightcar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 206,079 shares, a decline of 42.3% from the February 26th total of 357,441 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 330,515 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on RAIL shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Freightcar America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Freightcar America from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $9.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freightcar America

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freightcar America during the 3rd quarter worth $2,007,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Freightcar America during the 2nd quarter valued at about $280,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Freightcar America in the third quarter valued at about $352,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Freightcar America in the third quarter valued at about $501,000. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Freightcar America during the third quarter worth about $582,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.96% of the company’s stock.

Freightcar America Trading Up 2.4%

RAIL traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.20. 38,493 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 181,714. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.17. Freightcar America has a 52-week low of $4.31 and a 52-week high of $14.90. The company has a market capitalization of $156.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.75.

Freightcar America (NASDAQ:RAIL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The transportation company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $125.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.95 million. Freightcar America had a negative return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 7.61%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Freightcar America will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

About Freightcar America

FreightCar America, Inc is a designer and manufacturer of specialized railroad freight cars, offering a diverse range of products that include tank cars, open and covered hoppers, gondolas, boxcars and centerbeam lumber cars. The company supports both new car construction and the rebuilding of existing fleets, providing custom engineering solutions to meet customer specifications and industry regulations. FreightCar America also supplies aftermarket parts, maintenance services and component remanufacturing for its own fleet and for third-party car owners.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, FreightCar America traces its origins to early 20th-century railcar builders and began trading as an independent, publicly-listed company on the NASDAQ under the ticker RAIL following a spin-off in 2010.