Short Interest in L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) Grows By 9.0%

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 106,200 shares, an increase of 9.0% from the May 31st total of 97,400 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 53,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

L.B. Foster Stock Up 8.8 %

Shares of L.B. Foster stock opened at $22.18 on Thursday. L.B. Foster has a 12 month low of $13.76 and a 12 month high of $30.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $243.09 million, a PE ratio of 30.38 and a beta of 0.86.

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.24. L.B. Foster had a return on equity of 3.19% and a net margin of 1.46%. The company had revenue of $124.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.34 million. Research analysts predict that L.B. Foster will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On L.B. Foster

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in L.B. Foster stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) by 760.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in L.B. Foster were worth $48,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FSTR. B. Riley boosted their price objective on L.B. Foster from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of L.B. Foster from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th.

L.B. Foster Company Profile

L.B. Foster Company provides engineered and manufactured products and services for the building and infrastructure projects in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Rail, Technologies, and Services; and Infrastructure Solutions. The Rail, Technologies, and Services segment offers new rail to passenger and short line freight railroads, industrial companies, and rail contractors, as well as used rails; rail accessories, such as rack spikes, bolts, angle bars, tie plates, and other products; insulated rail joints and related accessories; fixation fasteners, coverboards, and special accessories; and trackwork products.