Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Reaches New 1-Year Low at $22.30

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $22.30 and last traded at $22.62, with a volume of 106566 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Forward Air Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $592.53 million, a P/E ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The transportation company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $338.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.96 million. Forward Air had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The business’s revenue was down 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Forward Air Co. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FWRD. Quarry LP raised its stake in Forward Air by 156.2% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 456 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Forward Air in the first quarter worth about $45,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in Forward Air by 86.9% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Forward Air in the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Forward Air by 306.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.