Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) was downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, amid concerns over its recent financial performance.
• The company reported a loss with earnings per share of ($0.41), falling short of analysts' expectations, and a revenue drop of 3.9% year-over-year.
• Despite the downgrade, some analysts have a positive outlook, with one firm raising its target price from $40.00 to $43.00 while maintaining a "positive" rating on the stock.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

FWRD has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna upped their target price on 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 upped their target price on 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, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.75.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRD opened at $22.59 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $28.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.11. The company has a market cap of $695.55 million, a PE ratio of -3.77 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.91. Forward Air has a twelve month low of $9.78 and a twelve month high of $40.92.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The transportation company reported ($0.41) earnings per share 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 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%.Forward Air's quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($23.29) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Forward Air will post -0.72 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Air

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FWRD. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 81.3% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,940 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 870 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Forward Air by 26.9% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,499 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Forward Air by 207.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,600 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Forward Air by 34.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Forward Air during the second quarter worth $107,000. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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