Forward Air Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 27th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, May 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share by the transportation company on Tuesday, June 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 25th.

Forward Air has raised its dividend by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Forward Air has a dividend payout ratio of 14.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Forward Air to earn $6.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.9%.

Forward Air stock opened at $98.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Forward Air has a 1-year low of $80.56 and a 1-year high of $125.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.45 and a beta of 1.23.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 27th. The transportation company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.41. Forward Air had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 6.37%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Forward Air will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the 4th quarter valued at $4,780,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Forward Air by 18.3% during the second quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 136,764 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $12,275,000 after buying an additional 21,111 shares during the last quarter. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC now owns 118,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $14,340,000 after buying an additional 8,987 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 257.7% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 12,122 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 8,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Forward Air during the 3rd quarter valued at about $267,000. 98.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Forward Air from $143.00 to $133.00 in a report on Friday. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Forward Air from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Forward Air from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Forward Air from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Forward Air from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.71.

Forward Air Company Profile (Get Rating)

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 final mile, truckload, shipment consolidation and deconsolidation, warehousing, customs brokerage, and other handling.

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