Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 755,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 79,960 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 2.61% of Forward Air worth $24,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FWRD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Forward Air by 688.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 326,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,573,000 after purchasing an additional 285,465 shares during the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP bought a new position in Forward Air during the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,270,000. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Forward Air by 1,481.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 208,396 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,377,000 after purchasing an additional 195,220 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP grew its holdings in Forward Air by 73.0% during the 3rd quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 78,803 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 33,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Forward Air during the 4th quarter valued at about $815,000. 97.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on FWRD. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Forward Air from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Forward Air from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of FWRD opened at $20.51 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.53. Forward Air Co. has a fifty-two week low of $11.21 and a fifty-two week high of $40.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $593.85 million, a PE ratio of -0.86 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Forward Air 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.