Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Fortrea Holdings Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from twelve research firms, with price targets ranging from $6.00 to $14.00.
• The company reported a strong second quarter with an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.19, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.06, and recorded revenue of $710.30 million.
• Insider trading has seen notable activity, with Director Peter M. Neupert increasing his stake by 49.52% through the acquisition of 32,500 shares at an average cost of $6.26 each.

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FTRE shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Fortrea from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Baird R W upgraded Fortrea from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Fortrea from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Fortrea from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $6.00 price objective (up from $5.00) on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Thursday, August 7th.

Insider Transactions at Fortrea

In related news, CFO Jill G. Mcconnell sold 3,156 shares of Fortrea stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.23, for a total transaction of $32,285.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,770 shares in the company, valued at $601,217.10. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter M. Neupert purchased 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $6.26 per share, for a total transaction of $203,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 98,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $614,306.32. This represents a 49.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 72,354 shares of company stock worth $507,168 and have sold 10,311 shares worth $94,635. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortrea

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FTRE. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Fortrea during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $546,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortrea during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Fortrea by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 43,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Fortrea during the fourth quarter valued at $196,000. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new stake in Fortrea in the fourth quarter worth $301,000.

Fortrea Trading Down 1.0%

FTRE traded down $0.09 on Friday, hitting $9.55. 536,118 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,281,370. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. Fortrea has a 12 month low of $3.97 and a 12 month high of $25.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $866.78 million, a PE ratio of -0.84 and a beta of 1.88.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.13. Fortrea had a positive return on equity of 5.25% and a negative net margin of 37.57%.The business had revenue of $710.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.61 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortrea will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

About Fortrea

Fortrea Holdings Inc, a contract research organization, primarily engages in the provision of biopharmaceutical product and medical device development services worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Clinical Services and Enabling Services. The Clinical Services segment provides across the clinical pharmacology and clinical development spectrum.