Jump Financial LLC Raises Holdings in Forward Air Corporation $FWRD

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC significantly increased its holdings in Forward Air Corporation by purchasing 120,123 additional shares, which contributed to a 1,357.6% boost in its investment during the first quarter.
• Forward Air's stock recently opened at $29.93 and reported a market capitalization of $921.54 million, although it has a negative P/E ratio of -5.00 and a history of missing earnings estimates.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Forward Air, with Susquehanna setting a new target of $43.00, indicating a positive outlook on the company's stock performance.

Jump Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD - Free Report) by 1,357.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,971 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 120,123 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC owned about 0.42% of Forward Air worth $2,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Littlejohn & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Forward Air by 70.1% in the 1st 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. 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 purchasing an additional 6,702 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 5,388 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Forward Air by 742.9% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 463,600 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $14,951,000 after purchasing an additional 408,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Forward Air by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 295,226 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $9,521,000 after purchasing an additional 43,567 shares in the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Forward Air Stock Performance

FWRD traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.03. 305,292 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 651,235. The stock has a market capitalization of $924.62 million, a P/E ratio of -5.01 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.91. The company's fifty day moving average price is $28.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.36. Forward Air Corporation has a 52-week low of $9.78 and a 52-week high of $40.92.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The transportation company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $618.84 million for 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 quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($23.29) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Forward Air Corporation will post -0.72 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.