Raymond James & Associates Reduces Stock Position in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Raymond James & Associates lowered its holdings in shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 42,336 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 10,049 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Forward Air were worth $2,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cim Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,541 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 9,202 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $992,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 2,428 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 653 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,053 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Forward Air from $80.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research cut Forward Air from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Forward Air from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Forward Air presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.14.

Forward Air Trading Down 7.3 %

FWRD opened at $25.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $674.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. Forward Air Co. has a 12 month low of $25.38 and a 12 month high of $121.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.04.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The transportation company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.16). Forward Air had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $338.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Forward Air Co. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.