Short Interest in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) Grows By 187.7%

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 666,300 shares, a growth of 187.7% from the August 15th total of 231,600 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 455,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $110.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird cut Forward Air from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $130.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 15th. Wolfe Research raised Forward Air from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Forward Air from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.14.

Forward Air Trading Down 0.1 %

Forward Air stock opened at $69.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 1.20. Forward Air has a 1 year low of $60.09 and a 1 year high of $121.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.23.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The transportation company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $402.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.15 million. Forward Air had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 8.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Forward Air will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Forward Air Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Forward Air’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Forward Air news, Director Laurie Anne Tucker bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $61.23 per share, with a total value of $244,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $953,534.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Forward Air news, COO Chris C. Ruble purchased 1,433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $69.77 per share, with a total value of $99,980.41. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 28,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,972,816.52. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laurie Anne Tucker purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $61.23 per share, for a total transaction of $244,920.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $953,534.79. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 23,302 shares of company stock valued at $1,471,544 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL acquired a new position in Forward Air in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $435,000. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Forward Air in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $91,700,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Forward Air by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 8,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Forward Air by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 31,424 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,334,000 after purchasing an additional 5,341 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Forward Air in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

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