Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Shares Up 3.3%

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)’s stock price shot up 3.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $25.39 and last traded at $25.34. 312,125 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 933,527 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Forward Air from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research downgraded Forward Air from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Forward Air from $80.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.14.

Forward Air Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $665.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.73.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The transportation company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.16). Forward Air had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $338.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Forward Air Co. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Air

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FWRD. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Forward Air by 156.2% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 456 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air in the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Forward Air by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 653 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in Forward Air by 86.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Forward Air by 137.8% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 761 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

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.