Forensic Analysis · Trading Companies & Distributors · as of Aug 11, 2026

Foster L B Co (FSTR)

A forensic read on Foster L B Co built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

D · Weak — demands caution

Forensic grade

Safe

Financial health

6.3

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

38.7

P / E (ttm)

4.3%

ROE

$397M

Market cap

1.7%

Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

Foster L B Co earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 6.3, placing it in the Safe zone. 4 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.

What the filings flag

5.9%

FY2025

Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 5.9% in the latest fiscal year and rising from -2% — well below its ~8% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.

suspended

FY2016→FY2017

Dividend — suspended. The dividend has been SUSPENDED — $1M paid in FY2016, then $0 in FY2017. A suspension is a major signal the board is conserving cash; the prior payment history doesn't offset it.

+0.5%/yr

FY2022–FY2025

Share count. Diluted share count changed +2% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+0.5%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks ($17M) are about offsetting stock comp ($5M), not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.

$3M

FY2022–FY2022

Goodwill impairments. Took $3M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2022 ($3M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$540.0M

Revenue Growth YoY+1.7%

Revenue CAGR (3yr)+2.8%

Net Margin1.4%

Free Cash Flow$25.2M

Return on Equity4.3%

Debt / Equity0.24x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 11, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.