American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Holdings in Forward Air Corporation $FWRD

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. significantly increased its holdings in Forward Air Corporation by 188.2% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.09% of the company valued at $570,000.
• Forward Air's stock has been rated with a consensus of "Moderate Buy," and has seen recent upgrades from analysts, including a price target increase by Susquehanna from $40.00 to $43.00.
• The company reported a substantial earnings miss, with an EPS of ($0.41) compared to the consensus estimate of ($0.17), and revenue down 3.9% from the same quarter last year.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD - Free Report) by 188.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,349 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,511 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.09% of Forward Air worth $570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 18.1% during the first quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 10,980 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 70.1% during the first quarter. Littlejohn & Co. LLC now owns 2,814,401 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $56,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159,747 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 27.1% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 63,343 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 13,523 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the first quarter worth about $1,843,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 43.5% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 273,211 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $5,489,000 after acquiring an additional 82,834 shares in the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on FWRD shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Forward Air from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Forward Air from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Forward Air from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.75.

Forward Air Stock Performance

FWRD traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $29.89. The company had a trading volume of 565,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 490,499. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.91, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $920.31 million, a PE ratio of -4.99 and a beta of 1.40. Forward Air Corporation has a 12-month low of $9.78 and a 12-month high of $40.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.40.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The transportation company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $618.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $627.98 million. Forward Air had a negative net margin of 6.86% and a negative return on equity of 40.36%. The firm's revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($23.29) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Forward Air Corporation will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.