L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on FSTR. Singular Research upgraded shares of L.B. Foster to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of L.B. Foster in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded L.B. Foster from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

L.B. Foster Stock Up 2.7%

FSTR stock opened at $29.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.95. The company has a market cap of $303.08 million, a P/E ratio of 64.82 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.21. L.B. Foster has a fifty-two week low of $17.16 and a fifty-two week high of $29.73.

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.21). L.B. Foster had a net margin of 0.96% and a return on equity of 2.79%. The firm had revenue of $138.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.38 million. 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 other news, CEO Brian H. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.15, for a total value of $271,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,145,583.05. This represents a 11.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Aron R. English sold 34,025 shares of L.B. Foster stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.79, for a total value of $911,529.75. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,204,558 shares in the company, valued at $32,270,108.82. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 132,075 shares of company stock worth $3,561,116. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On L.B. Foster

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of L.B. Foster during the 2nd quarter worth $489,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in L.B. Foster by 29.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 3,030 shares during the last quarter. Marion Wealth Management bought a new stake in L.B. Foster in the second quarter worth about $210,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in L.B. Foster by 250.1% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in L.B. Foster by 7.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 238,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,207,000 after acquiring an additional 16,320 shares during the last quarter. 80.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.