Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $6.05 Million Position in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 37.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 194,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 53,310 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Forward Air were worth $6,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 413.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 837 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Forward Air in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 116,200.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Forward Air during the first quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the first quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRD traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.16. 126,793 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,129,881. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $506.59 million, a PE ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.00. Forward Air Co. has a twelve month low of $11.21 and a twelve month high of $121.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.33.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The transportation company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $541.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.00 million. Forward Air had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 5.37%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Forward Air Co. will post -0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Forward Air from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Forward Air from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Forward Air has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.86.

Forward Air Profile

Forward Air Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an asset-light freight and logistics company in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Expedited Freight and Intermodal. The Expedited Freight segment provides expedited regional, inter-regional, and national less-than-truckload services; local pick-up and delivery services; and other services, which include shipment consolidation and deconsolidation, warehousing, customs brokerage, and other handling.