Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) Short Interest Down 16.3% in September

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) was the target of a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,100,000 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the September 15th total of 4,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 857,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 21.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Forward Air Trading Up 4.2 %

NASDAQ FWRD traded up $1.51 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $37.83. 694,748 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,026,428. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.33. Forward Air has a 52 week low of $11.21 and a 52 week high of $79.51. The stock has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.70.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The transportation company reported ($23.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($23.11). Forward Air had a negative return on equity of 79.11% and a negative net margin of 30.77%. The firm had revenue of $643.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $642.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Forward Air’s revenue was up 92.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Forward Air will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Air

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FWRD. Clearlake Capital Group L.P. increased its stake in Forward Air by 255.2% in the second quarter. Clearlake Capital Group L.P. now owns 3,825,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $72,828,000 after purchasing an additional 2,747,994 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 424,924 shares during the period. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC lifted its holdings in Forward Air by 172.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC now owns 1,910,615 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,378,000 after buying an additional 1,210,006 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Forward Air by 34.1% during the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,336,687 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,451,000 after buying an additional 339,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MFN Partners Management LP purchased a new stake in Forward Air in the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,208,000. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Forward Air has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

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.