Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Price Target Raised to $36.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would suggest a potential downside of 9.73% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on FWRD. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Forward Air and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Forward Air presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.40.

Forward Air Stock Up 0.6 %

Forward Air stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching $39.88. The stock had a trading volume of 113,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,027,048. Forward Air has a 52-week low of $11.21 and a 52-week high of $77.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.57. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

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

Forward Air Company 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.