Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C Takes Position in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new position in shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in shares of Forward Air in the first quarter worth $3,437,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Forward Air by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 410,664 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,818,000 after acquiring an additional 77,909 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Forward Air by 244.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 95,963 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,985,000 after acquiring an additional 68,093 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 194,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,051,000 after acquiring an additional 53,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the 2nd quarter valued at about $611,000. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Forward Air Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ FWRD opened at $35.43 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $30.18 and its 200 day moving average is $24.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $936.70 million, a PE ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.70, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Forward Air Co. has a 1 year low of $11.21 and a 1 year high of $79.51.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The transportation company reported ($23.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($23.11). Forward Air had a negative net margin of 30.77% and a negative return on equity of 79.11%. The company had revenue of $643.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $642.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 92.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Forward Air Co. will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Forward Air presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

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 shipment consolidation and deconsolidation, warehousing, customs brokerage, and other handling.