StockNews.com Upgrades Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) to Sell

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) was upgraded by StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on FWRD. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Forward Air from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $47.00 price target on Forward Air and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Forward Air has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.25.

Forward Air Price Performance

FWRD opened at $36.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.67 and a 200-day moving average of $26.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.77 and a beta of 1.02. Forward Air has a 12-month low of $11.21 and a 12-month high of $68.09. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $642.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. Forward Air’s revenue was up 92.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Forward Air will post -1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Air

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Forward Air in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Forward Air in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Forward Air by 98.5% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Forward Air by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,964 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Forward Air by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the period. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.