Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $28.00. The stock had previously closed at $25.75, but opened at $22.81. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Forward Air shares last traded at $23.72, with a volume of 81,982 shares.

FWRD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Forward Air from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Forward Air to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Forward Air presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FWRD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Forward Air by 688.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 326,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,573,000 after buying an additional 285,465 shares in the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP bought a new position in Forward Air in the third quarter worth approximately $14,270,000. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Forward Air by 1,481.6% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 208,396 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,377,000 after buying an additional 195,220 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP raised its stake in Forward Air by 73.0% in the third quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 78,803 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,790,000 after buying an additional 33,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Forward Air in the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Forward Air Stock Down 9.4 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.62 and its 200 day moving average is $33.46. The company has a market cap of $675.12 million, a P/E ratio of -0.98 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07.

About Forward Air

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.