Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $2.01 Million Stock Holdings in Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 99,821 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,673 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.33% of Forward Air worth $2,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 1,194.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $934,000 after buying an additional 42,914 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air in the 4th quarter valued at $320,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 30,042 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $969,000 after buying an additional 2,773 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air in the 4th quarter valued at $1,242,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 167.4% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 66,665 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after buying an additional 41,735 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Forward Air Trading Down 1.8%

FWRD opened at $26.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $815.56 million, a P/E ratio of -0.92 and a beta of 1.41. Forward Air Corporation has a 12 month low of $9.79 and a 12 month high of $40.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FWRD shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $21.00 to $29.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Forward Air from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Forward Air currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

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.