L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR – Get Free Report) and Acerinox (OTCMKTS:ANIOY – Get Free Report) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
80.6% of L.B. Foster shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of L.B. Foster shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares L.B. Foster and Acerinox’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| L.B. Foster | 7.19% | 3.64% | 1.88% |
| Acerinox | 1.59% | 3.54% | 1.41% |
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| L.B. Foster | $530.77 million | 0.55 | $42.95 million | $3.32 | 8.26 |
| Acerinox | $5.86 billion | N/A | $243.41 million | $0.19 | 32.37 |
Acerinox has higher revenue and earnings than L.B. Foster. L.B. Foster is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acerinox, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings for L.B. Foster and Acerinox, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| L.B. Foster | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 |
| Acerinox | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.75 |
L.B. Foster currently has a consensus target price of $25.00, indicating a potential downside of 8.86%. Given L.B. Foster’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe L.B. Foster is more favorable than Acerinox.
Risk and Volatility
L.B. Foster has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acerinox has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
L.B. Foster beats Acerinox on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Acerinox
Acerinox, S.A., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, process, and markets stainless steel products in Spain, the United States, Africa, Asia, Rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through Stainless steel, and High-performance Alloys segments. The company offers flat products, including hot and cold rolled coils and sheets, strips, flat bars, and discs, as well as engraved coil and sheet, black coil, slabs, circles, billets, and plates. It provides long products, which include wire and hexagonal wire rods, peeled bars, hot and cold reinforcement bars, black bars, profiles, angles, and steel profiles, as well as stainless steel, color coated, and reinforcement wires. In additions, it offers stainless steel products, such as austenitic, ferritic, duplex, and martensitic. Acerinox, S.A. was incorporated in 1970 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
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