Comparing L.B. Foster (FSTR) and Its Peers

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) is one of 436 public companies in the “Machinery” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare L.B. Foster to similar companies based on the strength of its valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Dividends

L.B. Foster pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. L.B. Foster pays out 15.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Machinery” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.8% and pay out 24.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares L.B. Foster and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
L.B. Foster	2.04%	7.61%	4.03%
L.B. Foster Competitors	-1,044.47%	-15.12%	0.54%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.6% of L.B. Foster shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.7% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of L.B. Foster shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.2% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

L.B. Foster has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, L.B. Foster’s competitors have a beta of 4.69, indicating that their average stock price is 369% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares L.B. Foster and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
L.B. Foster	$558.35 million	$7.55 million	34.14
L.B. Foster Competitors	$4.62 billion	$364.57 million	3.43

L.B. Foster’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than L.B. Foster. L.B. Foster is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for L.B. Foster and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
L.B. Foster	0	3	1	0	2.25
L.B. Foster Competitors	4186	14670	18166	800	2.41

L.B. Foster currently has a consensus target price of $32.00, indicating a potential downside of 10.74%. As a group, “Machinery” companies have a potential upside of 32.10%. Given L.B. Foster’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe L.B. Foster has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

L.B. Foster competitors beat L.B. Foster on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About L.B. Foster

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. This segment also provides engineered concrete railroad ties, friction management products and application systems, railroad condition monitoring systems and equipment including wheel impact load detection systems, wayside data collection and management systems, and rockfall, flood, earthworks, and bridge strike monitoring; and aftermarket services. The Infrastructure Solutions segment manufactures precast concrete products for use as restrooms, concession stands, and protective storage buildings under the CXT brand for national, state, and municipal parks; and manufactures sounds walls, bridge beams, box culverts, septic tanks, and other custom pre-stressed and precast concrete products. This segment also provides steel bridge products; corrosion protection solutions; concrete-reinforced steel grid decking, open steel grid deck, aluminum bridge railing, and stay-in-place steel bridge forms; cuts, threads, and paints pipe; threading services for water well applications; protective pipeline coating services; and turnkey solutions for metering and injection systems for oil and gas markets. L.B. Foster Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.