Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Forward Air shares recently crossed above their 200-day moving average
• Analyst views are mixed: the consensus is a Hold with a $36 average price target (three Buys, two Sells), while recent notes range from Weiss's "sell (e+)" and Zacks' "strong sell" to Susquehanna's $42 "positive" call.
• Company fundamentals show weakness—an EPS miss (-$0.28 vs. -$0.27), negative PE and margins (PE -6.66; net margin -4.32%; ROE -42.67%)—despite a market cap of about $740M and roughly 97% institutional ownership.

Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $23.03 and traded as high as $23.63. Forward Air shares last traded at $23.44, with a volume of 723,820 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on FWRD. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research cut shares of Forward Air from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Forward Air Price Performance

The company's fifty day moving average is $20.67 and its 200 day moving average is $23.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.58. The stock has a market cap of $739.53 million, a PE ratio of -6.66 and a beta of 1.46.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $631.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $629.60 million. Forward Air had a negative net margin of 4.32% and a negative return on equity of 42.67%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.23) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Forward Air Corporation will post -0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Forward Air

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 15.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,353,608 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $60,347,000 after buying an additional 307,906 shares in the last quarter. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 0.7% during the third quarter. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC now owns 1,937,405 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $49,675,000 after buying an additional 13,926 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 8.5% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,475,055 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $37,820,000 after buying an additional 116,012 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 949,784 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $23,745,000 after buying an additional 19,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 122.3% during the fourth quarter. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd now owns 849,876 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $21,247,000 after buying an additional 467,482 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.03% of the company's stock.

Forward Air Company Profile

Forward Air Corporation is a leading North American provider of expedited ground transportation and related logistics services, specializing in time-sensitive shipments. The company offers a comprehensive suite of solutions including less-than-truckload (LTL) expedited freight, consolidation and distribution services, container drayage, and final-mile delivery. By integrating transportation management with warehousing, inventory control, and technology-driven tracking, Forward Air supports customers across a variety of industries such as manufacturing, retail, automotive and chemicals.

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Greeneville, Tennessee, Forward Air has developed a broad network of service centers, terminals and rail ramps throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

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