Amundi Boosts Stake in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Amundi lifted its holdings in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 149.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,540 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Forward Air were worth $296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 worth $11,573,000 after purchasing an additional 285,465 shares during the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Forward Air during the third quarter valued at $14,270,000. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Forward Air by 1,481.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 208,396 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,377,000 after acquiring an additional 195,220 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP increased its position in Forward Air by 73.0% during the third quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 78,803 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 33,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Forward Air by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 97,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 6,629 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on FWRD. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Forward Air from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Forward Air from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Forward Air Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FWRD opened at $21.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.30. Forward Air Co. has a 52-week low of $11.21 and a 52-week high of $40.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $615.27 million, a PE ratio of -0.89 and a beta of 1.08.

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.