Freightcar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) Short Interest Up 60.4% in December

Freightcar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 387,748 shares, an increase of 60.4% from the December 15th total of 241,788 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 243,270 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 243,270 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freightcar America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Freightcar America by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 631,029 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,171,000 after acquiring an additional 13,301 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freightcar America by 12.9% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 328,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,217,000 after purchasing an additional 37,530 shares during the last quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC lifted its position in Freightcar America by 18.1% during the third quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 258,546 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,529,000 after purchasing an additional 39,541 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Freightcar America by 12.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 238,331 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after purchasing an additional 25,895 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Freightcar America in the third quarter valued at $2,007,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.96% of the company’s stock.

Freightcar America Trading Up 4.3%

NASDAQ:RAIL opened at $11.62 on Friday. Freightcar America has a twelve month low of $4.31 and a twelve month high of $13.64. The company has a market cap of $221.71 million, a PE ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.51.

Freightcar America (NASDAQ:RAIL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The transportation company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $160.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.25 million. Freightcar America had a net margin of 17.40% and a negative return on equity of 17.35%. As a group, analysts expect that Freightcar America will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RAIL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Freightcar America from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Freightcar America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Freightcar America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freightcar America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.00.

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.