Short Interest in FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) Rises By 16.8%

FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 269,300 shares, a growth of 16.8% from the August 31st total of 230,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 230,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

FreightCar America Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RAIL traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.75. The stock had a trading volume of 265,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 500,487. The stock has a market cap of $183.98 million, a P/E ratio of -6.33 and a beta of 2.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.61. FreightCar America has a 12-month low of $2.25 and a 12-month high of $11.55.

FreightCar America (NASDAQ:RAIL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05. The business had revenue of $147.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $127.09 million. FreightCar America had a negative return on equity of 28.11% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that FreightCar America will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at FreightCar America

In related news, Director Nigris Felan Jose De acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.19 per share, with a total value of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 73,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $745,367.93. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Nigris Felan Jose De bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.19 per share, for a total transaction of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 73,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $745,367.93. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William D. Gehl sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total transaction of $108,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 147,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,598,594.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 28.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FreightCar America by 4.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 584,292 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 26,412 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in FreightCar America by 43.4% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 116,887 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 35,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in FreightCar America by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,932 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,880 shares during the period. 31.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on RAIL shares. StockNews.com downgraded FreightCar America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Noble Financial upgraded shares of FreightCar America to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th.

FreightCar America Company Profile

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.