Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Forward Air Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from five brokerages, with an average 12-month price target of $37.75.
• Recent earnings reports indicate that Forward Air missed expectations, reporting ($0.41) earnings per share which was below the consensus estimate.
• Institutional investors own 97.03% of Forward Air's stock, with several firms increasing their holdings recently, highlighting strong institutional interest.

Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.75.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FWRD. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Forward Air from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Forward Air from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Forward Air from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Forward Air by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,174 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Forward Air by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,251 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Forward Air by 26.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,499 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Forward Air by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,949 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its holdings in Forward Air by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 5,725 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Forward Air Stock Performance

Shares of FWRD stock opened at $30.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.44. The stock has a market cap of $924.01 million, a PE ratio of -5.01 and a beta of 1.40. Forward Air has a 1 year low of $9.78 and a 1 year high of $40.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.91, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The transportation company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $618.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $627.98 million. Forward Air had a negative return on equity of 40.36% and a negative net margin of 6.86%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($23.29) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Forward Air will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

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