New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $2.81 Million Holdings in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,707 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 4,698 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Forward Air were worth $2,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Forward Air in the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 653 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 86.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 137.8% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 761 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Forward Air by 306.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of FWRD opened at $24.52 on Tuesday. Forward Air Co. has a twelve month low of $24.49 and a twelve month high of $121.38. The company has a market capitalization of $646.59 million, a P/E ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.16 and a 200 day moving average of $52.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FWRD shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Forward Air from $80.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Forward Air from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Forward Air from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Forward Air currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.14.

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.