Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 2,782 Shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 26.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,782 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Forward Air were worth $487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cim Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Forward Air Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of FWRD opened at $23.78 on Friday. Forward Air Co. has a 1-year low of $22.08 and a 1-year high of $121.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.61 and a 200 day moving average of $51.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $627.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The transportation company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.16). Forward Air had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $338.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Forward Air Co. will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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