Analyzing L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) and General Steel (OTCMKTS:GSIH)

L.B. Foster (NASDAQ:FSTR) and General Steel (OTCMKTS:GSIH) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.6% of L.B. Foster shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of L.B. Foster shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 53.3% of General Steel shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for L.B. Foster and General Steel, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
L.B. Foster	1	1	0	0	1.50
General Steel	0	0	0	0	0.00

L.B. Foster presently has a consensus price target of $25.00, suggesting a potential downside of 8.86%. Given L.B. Foster’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe L.B. Foster is more favorable than General Steel.

Risk and Volatility

L.B. Foster has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, General Steel has a beta of -0.93, meaning that its share price is 193% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares L.B. Foster and General Steel’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%
General Steel	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares L.B. Foster and General Steel”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	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
General Steel	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

L.B. Foster has higher revenue and earnings than General Steel.

Summary

L.B. Foster beats General Steel on 8 of the 9 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 General Steel

General Steel Holdings, Inc. engages in the business of cell research, development, storage, and cell culture service in the People's Republic of China. General Steel Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.