Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Trading Down 3%

Shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) were down 3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $24.35 and last traded at $24.46. Approximately 21,310 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 98% from the average daily volume of 927,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FWRD shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Forward Air from $80.00 to $55.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Forward Air from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Wolfe Research downgraded Forward Air from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Forward Air from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $80.14.

Forward Air Stock Down 10.2 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. The firm has a market cap of $597.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.98.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The transportation company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.16). Forward Air had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 10.58%. The business had revenue of $338.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. Forward Air's revenue for the quarter was down 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Forward Air Co. will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FWRD. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Forward Air by 0.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,118,552 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $402,713,000 after purchasing an additional 36,722 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Forward Air by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,982,873 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $187,533,000 after purchasing an additional 63,322 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 18.2% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,753,799 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $155,754,000 after acquiring an additional 269,446 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 54.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,213,405 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $83,410,000 after acquiring an additional 428,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 7.3% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,056,548 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $103,309,000 after acquiring an additional 72,215 shares during the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.