Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Shares Down 5.7% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares of Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) fell 5.7% to $9.26, significantly below its previous closing price of $9.82, with trading volume down 94% from average levels.
• Recent analyst upgrades and downgrades have resulted in a mixed rating for Fortrea, with two analysts issuing a Strong Buy rating while another firm downgraded it to a Hold.
• The company reported a quarterly revenue of $693.90 million and an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.37, with forecasts predicting an EPS of $0.51 for the current fiscal year.

Shares of Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE - Get Free Report) traded down 5.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $9.29 and last traded at $9.26. 132,589 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 2,204,315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised Fortrea from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Fortrea from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Fortrea from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fortrea from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortrea currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.17.

Fortrea Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $860.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.84 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company's 50 day moving average price is $9.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.72.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 24th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $693.90 million for the quarter. Fortrea had a positive return on equity of 5.25% and a negative net margin of 37.57%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Erin L. Russell bought 9,854 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $100,018.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,854 shares in the company, valued at $100,018.10. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jill G. Mcconnell sold 3,156 shares of Fortrea stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.23, for a total value of $32,285.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $601,217.10. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 72,354 shares of company stock valued at $507,168 and have sold 10,311 shares valued at $94,635. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortrea

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTRE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortrea by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,953,261 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,147,000 after purchasing an additional 69,005 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fortrea by 494.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,515,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,729,000 after acquiring an additional 5,419,842 shares during the period. Corvex Management LP boosted its stake in Fortrea by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Corvex Management LP now owns 4,474,898 shares of the company's stock worth $33,785,000 after acquiring an additional 994,000 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Fortrea by 1,625.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,499,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,461 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Fortrea by 37.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,171,450 shares of the company's stock worth $10,728,000 after purchasing an additional 589,145 shares during the period.

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.

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