LPL Financial LLC Lowers Position in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

LPL Financial LLC cut its stake in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,705 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,416 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Forward Air were worth $248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 755,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $24,376,000 after acquiring an additional 79,960 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Forward Air in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,140,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 688.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 326,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,573,000 after acquiring an additional 285,465 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 273,462 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,819,000 after acquiring an additional 40,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 97,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 6,629 shares in the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FWRD. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Forward Air from $29.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Forward Air from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Forward Air from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.25.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRD opened at $14.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. Forward Air Co. has a fifty-two week low of $9.79 and a fifty-two week high of $40.92. The stock has a market cap of $441.45 million, a PE ratio of -0.61 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $18.71 and a 200-day moving average of $28.54.

Forward Air 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.