Robert W. Baird Boosts Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Price Target to $17.00

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) had its price target lifted by Robert W. Baird from $14.00 to $17.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on FWRD. Wolfe Research raised shares of Forward Air from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Benchmark restated a hold rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Forward Air from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Forward Air presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $76.86.

Forward Air Stock Performance

NASDAQ FWRD opened at $18.79 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $496.81 million, a P/E ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 1.00. Forward Air has a 1-year low of $11.21 and a 1-year high of $121.38.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The transportation company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $541.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.00 million. Forward Air had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 5.37%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Forward Air will post -0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Air

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Forward Air during the 1st quarter worth $31,007,000. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the first quarter worth about $21,796,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Forward Air during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,281,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,407,797 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $106,017,000 after purchasing an additional 424,924 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Forward Air during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,870,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

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.