Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) Short Interest Update

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) was the target of a large decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,400,000 shares, a decline of 7.4% from the May 31st total of 6,910,000 shares. Approximately 32.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Forward Air Price Performance

Forward Air stock opened at $19.45 on Thursday. Forward Air has a 52 week low of $11.21 and a 52 week high of $121.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.42. The stock has a market cap of $514.26 million, a P/E ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $541.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.00 million. Forward Air had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 4.08%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Forward Air will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FWRD shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research upgraded Forward Air from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com lowered Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Forward Air currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Forward Air in the fourth quarter worth about $43,281,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Forward Air by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 410,664 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,818,000 after purchasing an additional 77,909 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,870,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Forward Air in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,701,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Forward Air by 7.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 673,369 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $46,287,000 after purchasing an additional 45,912 shares during the period. 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.