Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Stock Price Down 11.2% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• The stock price of Forward Air Corporation dropped by 11.2%, closing at $17.89 after trading as low as $20.02.
• Brokerage firms have adjusted their price targets for Forward Air, with Stifel Nicolaus lowering its target from $32.00 to $30.00 while Susquehanna increased theirs from $40.00 to $43.00.
• Forward Air reported a significant earnings miss, with an EPS of ($0.41), which was $0.24 below analysts' consensus estimates.

Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) dropped 11.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $20.02 and last traded at $17.89. Approximately 466,082 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 666,489 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on FWRD. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Forward Air from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Forward Air from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Forward Air from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.67.

Forward Air Stock Down 4.7%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.24 and a 200 day moving average of $23.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $590.86 million, a P/E ratio of -3.20 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.91, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The transportation company reported ($0.41) EPS 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 the consensus estimate 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 was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($23.29) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Forward Air Corporation will post -0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Forward Air

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FWRD. Littlejohn & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Forward Air by 70.1% in the first quarter. Littlejohn & Co. LLC now owns 2,814,401 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $56,541,000 after buying an additional 1,159,747 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Forward Air by 1,179.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 321,092 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,451,000 after buying an additional 296,001 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $24,719,000 after buying an additional 275,500 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Forward Air by 47.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 786,883 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $19,310,000 after buying an additional 252,509 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Forward Air by 24.7% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 611,316 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $15,002,000 after buying an additional 121,190 shares during the period. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.