Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to Buy Rating

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $29.00 price objective on the transportation company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $21.00. Stifel Nicolaus' target price suggests a potential upside of 15.31% from the stock's current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Forward Air from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Forward Air from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Forward Air has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.00.

Forward Air Price Performance

Forward Air stock traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $25.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,075,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 719,906. Forward Air has a fifty-two week low of $9.79 and a fifty-two week high of $40.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The company has a market cap of $765.06 million, a P/E ratio of -0.87 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.35.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Air

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FWRD. Littlejohn & Co. LLC lifted its position in Forward Air by 70.1% during the 1st quarter. Littlejohn & Co. LLC now owns 2,814,401 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $56,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159,747 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Forward Air by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,050,268 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $41,190,000 after acquiring an additional 6,702 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Forward Air by 28.9% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,230,390 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $24,719,000 after acquiring an additional 275,500 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Forward Air by 0.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 761,231 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $15,293,000 after buying an additional 5,388 shares during the period. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC grew its position in Forward Air by 23.5% during the first quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 470,576 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $9,475,000 after buying an additional 89,629 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.03% of the company's stock.

About Forward Air

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.