211,539 Shares in Forward Air Corporation $FWRD Purchased by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 211,539 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,535,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 108.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 318,858 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,328,000 after buying an additional 166,084 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Forward Air by 2.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 108,143 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Forward Air by 2,397.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 5,275 shares during the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC grew its position in Forward Air by 66.1% in the first quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 33,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 13,352 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Forward Air by 67.1% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 31,137 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 12,501 shares during the period. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Forward Air from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Forward Air from $19.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Forward Air from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Forward Air from $42.00 to $18.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Forward Air has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.50.

Forward Air Stock Up 8.7%

Shares of FWRD opened at $19.35 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.98, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.32. Forward Air Corporation has a 1 year low of $7.86 and a 1 year high of $32.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $611.85 million, a PE ratio of -2.17 and a beta of 1.36.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The transportation company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($0.74). Forward Air had a negative net margin of 11.37% and a negative return on equity of 19.49%. The business had revenue of $582.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.68) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Forward Air Corporation will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Forward Air 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.