Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Trading Down 3.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) dropped 3.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $35.50 and last traded at $35.59. Approximately 35,288 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 97% from the average daily volume of 1,028,700 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on FWRD. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Forward Air Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.94 and a 200 day moving average of $25.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.70. The firm has a market cap of $960.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 1.02.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The transportation company reported ($23.29) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($23.11). Forward Air had a negative net margin of 30.77% and a negative return on equity of 79.11%. The firm had revenue of $643.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $642.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. Forward Air’s quarterly revenue was up 92.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Forward Air Co. will post -1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FWRD. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new stake in Forward Air in the first quarter valued at about $3,437,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 244.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 95,963 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,985,000 after purchasing an additional 68,093 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 194,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,051,000 after purchasing an additional 53,310 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in Forward Air during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $611,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Forward Air by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,407,797 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $106,017,000 after purchasing an additional 424,924 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

About Forward Air

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.