Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Forward Air Corporation $FWRD

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Forward Air Corporation by 11.9%, owning approximately 1.08% of the company after selling 44,340 shares.
• Forward Air's recent earnings report showed a loss of ($0.41) EPS, missing analyst expectations, with a revenue decline of 3.9% year-over-year.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded Forward Air's ratings, with three giving it a Buy rating and the average target price set at $37.75.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its position in Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 328,993 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 44,340 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 1.08% of Forward Air worth $6,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Littlejohn & Co. LLC raised its holdings in Forward Air by 70.1% in the first quarter. Littlejohn & Co. LLC now owns 2,814,401 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $56,541,000 after buying an additional 1,159,747 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Forward Air by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,050,268 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $41,190,000 after buying an additional 6,702 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Forward Air by 28.9% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,230,390 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $24,719,000 after buying an additional 275,500 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Forward Air by 0.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 761,231 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $15,293,000 after buying an additional 5,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC raised its holdings in Forward Air by 23.5% in the first quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 470,576 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $9,475,000 after buying an additional 89,629 shares during the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FWRD traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $26.06. 300,484 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 641,838. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.91. The business's fifty day moving average is $29.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.54. Forward Air Corporation has a one year low of $9.78 and a one year high of $40.92. The stock has a market cap of $802.44 million, a PE ratio of -4.36 and a beta of 1.40.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $627.98 million. Forward Air had a negative return on equity of 40.36% and a negative net margin of 6.86%.Forward Air's revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($23.29) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Forward Air Corporation will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

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.