Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) shares surged after Robert W. Baird raised the price target from $9.00 to $14.00, resulting in an opening price of $10.48.
• Despite a general "Hold" consensus rating from analysts, Fortrea has shown significant investment interest, with hedge funds like Thrivent Financial increasing their stakes by up to 88.2%.
• Fortrea reported a quarterly EPS of $0.19, exceeding estimates and reflecting a revenue of $710.30 million for the quarter.

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $9.00 to $14.00. The stock had previously closed at $10.01, but opened at $10.48. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Fortrea shares last traded at $10.77, with a volume of 110,903 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $6.00 target price (up from $5.00) on shares of Fortrea in a report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Fortrea from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Fortrea from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortrea presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortrea

In related news, CFO Jill G. Mcconnell sold 4,886 shares of Fortrea stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.01, for a total transaction of $39,136.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 54,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at $438,707.70. This trade represents a 8.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter M. Neupert bought 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.26 per share, with a total value of $203,450.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 98,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $614,306.32. The trade was a 49.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortrea

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FTRE. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Fortrea by 88.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 229,368 shares of the company's stock worth $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 107,522 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in Fortrea by 194.0% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 73,638 shares of the company's stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 48,588 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Fortrea by 46.3% during the second quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 440,000 shares of the company's stock worth $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 139,188 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Fortrea by 8.5% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 308,551 shares of the company's stock worth $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 24,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Fortrea by 137.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,713 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 5,036 shares during the period.

Fortrea Trading Up 6.5%

The firm has a market cap of $967.93 million, a P/E ratio of -0.93 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $6.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.06.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.13. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 37.57% and a positive return on equity of 5.25%. The business had revenue of $710.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.61 million. As a group, analysts expect that Fortrea Holdings Inc. 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.

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