Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 6,629 Shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,629 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.34% of Forward Air worth $3,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldentree Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Forward Air in the 3rd quarter valued at $14,270,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Forward Air in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,140,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Forward Air by 688.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 326,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,573,000 after buying an additional 285,465 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $7,377,000 after buying an additional 195,220 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Forward Air by 2,430.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 132,846 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,703,000 after buying an additional 127,596 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Forward Air Stock Performance

Shares of Forward Air stock opened at $22.15 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.45. Forward Air Co. has a 12 month low of $11.21 and a 12 month high of $40.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $641.33 million, a P/E ratio of -0.93 and a beta of 1.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Forward Air to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Forward Air from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Forward Air from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Forward Air currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

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.