Freightcar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) Short Interest Update

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on RAIL shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Freightcar America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Freightcar America from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freightcar America

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freightcar America by 2.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 631,029 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,171,000 after buying an additional 13,301 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Freightcar America by 92.4% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 446,420 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,942,000 after acquiring an additional 214,397 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in Freightcar America by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 346,144 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,832,000 after acquiring an additional 140,946 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its position in Freightcar America by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 328,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,217,000 after acquiring an additional 37,530 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Freightcar America by 708.2% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 290,954 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,221,000 after acquiring an additional 254,954 shares during the period. 31.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freightcar America Price Performance

Shares of RAIL stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.04. The stock had a trading volume of 128,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,138. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.32 million, a PE ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $11.54 and its 200 day moving average is $10.18. Freightcar America has a twelve month low of $4.31 and a twelve month high of $14.90.

Freightcar America (NASDAQ:RAIL) last announced 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 business had revenue of $125.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.95 million. Freightcar America had a net margin of 7.61% and a negative return on equity of 15.54%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freightcar America will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Freightcar America Company Profile

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.