Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 30,593 Shares of Forward Air Corporation $FWRD

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 415,227 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 30,593 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 1.33% of Forward Air worth $10,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FWRD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Forward Air by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,353,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,347,000 after acquiring an additional 307,906 shares during the last quarter. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Forward Air by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC now owns 1,937,405 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,675,000 after acquiring an additional 13,926 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Forward Air by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,046,226 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,674,000 after acquiring an additional 83,600 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 47.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 786,883 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,310,000 after purchasing an additional 252,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 24.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 611,316 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,002,000 after purchasing an additional 121,190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FWRD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Forward Air in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Forward Air presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Forward Air Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRD opened at $22.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $688.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.26 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.58. Forward Air Corporation has a 1-year low of $9.78 and a 1-year high of $32.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.97 and its 200 day moving average is $25.32.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.01). Forward Air had a negative return on equity of 42.67% and a negative net margin of 4.32%.The firm had revenue of $631.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $629.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.23) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Forward Air Corporation will post -0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Forward Air Company Profile

Forward Air Corporation is a leading North American provider of expedited ground transportation and related logistics services, specializing in time-sensitive shipments. The company offers a comprehensive suite of solutions including less-than-truckload (LTL) expedited freight, consolidation and distribution services, container drayage, and final-mile delivery. By integrating transportation management with warehousing, inventory control, and technology-driven tracking, Forward Air supports customers across a variety of industries such as manufacturing, retail, automotive and chemicals.

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Greeneville, Tennessee, Forward Air has developed a broad network of service centers, terminals and rail ramps throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.