How Much Of L.B. Foster Company (NASDAQ:FSTR) Do Insiders Own?

Simply Wall St

Sun, Jan 24, 2021, 1:49 AM 5 min read

A look at the shareholders of L.B. Foster Company (NASDAQ:FSTR) can tell us which group is most powerful. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.

L.B. Foster is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of US$167m, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about L.B. Foster.

See our latest analysis for L.B. Foster

ownership-breakdown — NasdaqGS:FSTR Ownership Breakdown January 24th 2021

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About L.B. Foster?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

L.B. Foster already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at L.B. Foster's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — NasdaqGS:FSTR Earnings and Revenue Growth January 24th 2021

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. It would appear that 12% of L.B. Foster shares are controlled by hedge funds. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. Dimensional Fund Advisors L.P. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 6.2% of shares outstanding. With 6.2% and 6.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and Legion Partners Asset Management, LLC are the second and third largest shareholders. Furthermore, CEO Robert Bauer is the owner of 1.5% of the company's shares.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 14 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of L.B. Foster

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

We can see that insiders own shares in L.B. Foster Company. It has a market capitalization of just US$167m, and insiders have US$13m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though I generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 23% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over L.B. Foster. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand L.B. Foster better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for L.B. Foster you should be aware of.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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