Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Trading 10.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) traded up 10.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $17.20 and last traded at $17.27. 886,991 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 1,522,327 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Fortrea from $11.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Fortrea from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Fortrea from $16.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.25.

Fortrea Trading Up 10.6%

The stock has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.53, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.06.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $636.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.51 million. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 16.50% and a positive return on equity of 9.51%. On average, research analysts expect that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortrea news, CFO Jill G. Mcconnell sold 5,061 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.07, for a total value of $45,903.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,796 shares in the company, valued at $633,049.72. This trade represents a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 8,792 shares of company stock valued at $80,014 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fortrea

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTRE. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Fortrea by 48.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 121,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 39,944 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in Fortrea in the first quarter valued at $196,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortrea by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 282,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after buying an additional 27,746 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Fortrea during the 1st quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortrea during the 1st quarter worth about $65,000.

About Fortrea

Fortrea, Inc is a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that provides integrated solutions for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Established as a spin-off from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Pharma Services business in October 2023, Fortrea leverages a legacy of scientific expertise and manufacturing scale to support drug development from early-stage research through commercial production. The company’s comprehensive offerings address the complex needs of both small-molecule and biologics programs, making it a single source for clients seeking to accelerate timelines and manage costs.

Fortrea’s core services encompass analytical and formulation development, process optimization, clinical and commercial manufacturing, and packaging services.