Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $76.86.

FWRD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Forward Air from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Forward Air from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Forward Air Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Forward Air stock opened at $25.05 on Thursday. Forward Air has a twelve month low of $11.21 and a twelve month high of $121.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $18.93 and its 200 day moving average is $29.39. The company has a market cap of $662.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 1.00.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The transportation company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $541.81 million for 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 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Forward Air will post -0.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC increased its stake in Forward Air by 172.7% in the second quarter. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC now owns 1,910,615 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210,006 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,007,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Forward Air in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,281,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $106,017,000 after acquiring an additional 424,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Forward Air by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 645,931 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,610,000 after purchasing an additional 203,597 shares in 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.