Analysts Set Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) PT at $51.00

Shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.00.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

Forward Air Stock Performance

Shares of FWRD opened at $37.65 on Tuesday. Forward Air has a 52-week low of $11.21 and a 52-week high of $79.51. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $995.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FWRD. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Forward Air by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,964 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Forward Air by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Forward Air by 413.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 837 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Forward Air by 98.5% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Forward Air by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,220 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the period. 97.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.