Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Rating Reiterated by Benchmark

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Benchmark in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Wolfe Research lowered 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 research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.14.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRD traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $22.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 215,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 929,349. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $589.37 million, a P/E ratio of 3.50 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. Forward Air has a 1-year low of $22.25 and a 1-year high of $121.38.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The transportation company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $406.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. Forward Air’s quarterly revenue was down 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Forward Air will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air during the third quarter worth approximately $17,743,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air during the third quarter worth approximately $27,870,000. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 809.8% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 683,566 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,988,000 after buying an additional 608,430 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air during the third quarter worth approximately $1,895,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 7.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 673,369 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,287,000 after buying an additional 45,912 shares during the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Forward Air Company Profile

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.