L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FSTR. Wall Street Zen upgraded L.B. Foster from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of L.B. Foster from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of L.B. Foster in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Singular Research upgraded shares of L.B. Foster to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

L.B. Foster Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ FSTR traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.57. The company had a trading volume of 7,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,115. The stock has a market cap of $296.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.41 and a beta of 0.99. L.B. Foster has a 52 week low of $17.16 and a 52 week high of $32.63. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.85 and its 200-day moving average is $27.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.44). L.B. Foster had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 4.33%. The company had revenue of $160.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.83 million. Equities analysts expect that L.B. Foster will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Aron R. English sold 13,512 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.79, for a total transaction of $361,986.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,191,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,908,122.34. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 73,350 shares of company stock worth $1,970,953 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of L.B. Foster

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in L.B. Foster by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,360,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,663,000 after buying an additional 20,371 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in L.B. Foster by 2.0% in the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 950,272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,782,000 after acquiring an additional 18,272 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of L.B. Foster by 7.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 238,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,207,000 after acquiring an additional 16,320 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of L.B. Foster by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 145,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of L.B. Foster in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,767,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.63% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting L.B. Foster

Here are the key news stories impacting L.B. Foster this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company outlook: L.B. Foster outlined 3.7% sales growth and an 11.3% adjusted EBITDA expansion for 2026, citing robust backlog and demand — a fundamental update that supports revenue/earnings upside. L.B. Foster outlines 3.7% sales growth and 11.3% adjusted EBITDA expansion for 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Quarter-level upward revisions: Sidoti raised several quarterly EPS forecasts (examples include Q3 2026 and Q3/Q4 2027 increases), signaling some near-term operational beats versus prior expectations. Sidoti raises some quarterly estimates for L.B. Foster
• Positive Sentiment: Broker target lift: B. Riley raised its price target from $27 to $32 (maintaining a neutral rating), which provides upside potential relative to recent levels. B. Riley raises price target on L.B. Foster
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst activity overall: Sidoti published a comprehensive set of estimate changes — some quarter-by-quarter lifts alongside multiple downgrades — leaving the net view mixed and increasing short-term volatility. Sidoti issues mixed estimates for L.B. Foster
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks downgrade: Zacks Research cut L.B. Foster from “hold” to “strong sell,” a prominent negative signal that can pressure sentiment and selling interest. Zacks downgrades L.B. Foster to strong sell
• Negative Sentiment: Sidoti cuts to near? and full?year forecasts: Sidoti lowered Q2 2026 and Q2 2027 estimates and trimmed FY2026 and FY2027 EPS forecasts (e.g., FY2026 from $1.78 to $1.59; FY2027 from $2.09 to $2.04), which reduces forward earnings visibility and may cap upside. Sidoti lowers FY and quarter forecasts for L.B. Foster

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.