Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Stock Price Up 4.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)’s stock price rose 4.7% on Wednesday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $14.00 to $17.00. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Forward Air traded as high as $20.36 and last traded at $20.24. Approximately 56,154 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 1,135,704 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.34.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Forward Air from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FWRD. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 2,329.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Sona Asset Management US LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the 1st quarter valued at $2,178,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Forward Air by 103.9% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,347 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 10,877 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air during the first quarter valued at $236,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 35.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,604 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 5,427 shares during the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Forward Air Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $514.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.43 and a 200 day moving average of $33.42.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The transportation company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.49). Forward Air had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 4.08%. The business had revenue of $541.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Forward Air Co. will post -0.46 EPS for the current year.

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.