Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Shares Up 5.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) were up 5.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $15.21 and last traded at $15.1840. Approximately 275,681 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 2,052,151 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FTRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Fortrea from $7.00 to $9.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Fortrea from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortrea presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.69.

Fortrea Stock Up 5.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.37. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.76.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.04). Fortrea had a negative net margin of 36.77% and a positive return on equity of 5.64%. The company had revenue of $701.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.43 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Fortrea

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FTRE. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Fortrea by 494.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,515,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,729,000 after purchasing an additional 5,419,842 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Fortrea by 1,625.8% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,499,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,461 shares during the period. Park West Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortrea during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $18,579,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 17,183.6% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,165,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,796,000 after buying an additional 1,158,345 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in Fortrea in the second quarter valued at $5,087,000.

Fortrea Company Profile

Fortrea Holdings Inc, a contract research organization, primarily engages in the provision of biopharmaceutical product and medical device development services worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Clinical Services and Enabling Services. The Clinical Services segment provides across the clinical pharmacology and clinical development spectrum.