FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 415,100 shares, a growth of 18.6% from the February 13th total of 350,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 202,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of FreightCar America from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

FreightCar America Stock Performance

RAIL stock opened at $6.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $123.13 million, a PE ratio of -1.52 and a beta of 2.08. FreightCar America has a 52 week low of $3.02 and a 52 week high of $16.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.52.

FreightCar America (NASDAQ:RAIL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The transportation company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $137.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.02 million. FreightCar America had a negative net margin of 20.66% and a negative return on equity of 27.10%. On average, analysts forecast that FreightCar America will post 0.09 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FreightCar America

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RAIL. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FreightCar America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,711,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of FreightCar America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,399,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of FreightCar America by 125.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 389,018 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,486,000 after purchasing an additional 216,307 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of FreightCar America by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 282,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,529,000 after purchasing an additional 158,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of FreightCar America by 90.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 188,369 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 89,471 shares in the last quarter. 31.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About FreightCar America

FreightCar America, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in design, manufacture, and sale of railcars and railcar components for the transportation of bulk commodities and containerized freight products in the United States and Mexico. It operates in two segments, Manufacturing and Parts. The company offers a range of railcars, including open top hoppers, mill gondola cars, intermodal and non-intermodal flat cars, coal cars; bulk commodity cars covered hopper cars, coil steel cars, boxcars, woodchip hoppers, aluminum vehicle carriers, and articulated bulk container railcars.