Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Reaches New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Fortrea shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $21.81 and last changing hands near $22.11, close to the analyst consensus target of $22.10.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: six analysts rate the stock Buy, five rate it Hold and one rates it Sell, resulting in an overall consensus Hold rating.
• Fortrea exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.23 in EPS versus $0.18 expected and revenue of $678.2 million versus $647.6 million forecast; CEO Anshul Thakral separately sold shares to cover tax obligations tied to vested equity awards.

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $21.81 and last traded at $22.1050, with a volume of 16613 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $21.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Fortrea from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fortrea from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Friday, July 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortrea currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.10.

Fortrea Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.69.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.05. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 3.18% and a positive return on equity of 10.72%. The firm had revenue of $678.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $647.57 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortrea news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $1,913,490.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 316,797 shares in the company, valued at $6,069,830.52. This trade represents a 23.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortrea

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its stake in shares of Fortrea by 26.7% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 389,155 shares of the company's stock worth $6,771,000 after purchasing an additional 82,059 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortrea by 6,010.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 14,910 shares of the company's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 14,666 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of Fortrea by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 18,537 shares of the company's stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 3,417 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fortrea by 20.1% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 65,294 shares of the company's stock worth $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 10,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Fortrea by 22.3% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,923 shares of the company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period.

Fortrea Company Profile

Fortrea Holdings Inc is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. The company supports the development and commercialization of healthcare products across a range of therapeutic areas.

Its services include clinical trial management, study design, patient recruitment and engagement, data management, biostatistics, regulatory support, medical affairs and post-approval services. Fortrea also provides technology-enabled and decentralized clinical trial solutions intended to help sponsors conduct research across traditional and remote settings.

Fortrea serves customers internationally, with operations and clinical trial capabilities spanning North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other global markets.

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