Forward Air’s (FWRD) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Benchmark in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on FWRD. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Forward Air from $80.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Forward Air from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Forward Air has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.14.

Forward Air Stock Performance

NASDAQ FWRD opened at $23.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $627.08 million, a P/E ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.98. Forward Air has a 1-year low of $22.08 and a 1-year high of $121.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.70.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The transportation company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $338.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.96 million. Forward Air had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 10.58%. The business’s revenue was down 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Forward Air will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Air

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cim Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 3.6% in 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 last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.