The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 667 Shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 5.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,413 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 667 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Forward Air were worth $236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FWRD. Clearlake Capital Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 255.2% during the second quarter. Clearlake Capital Group L.P. now owns 3,825,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $72,828,000 after purchasing an additional 2,747,994 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 14.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,407,797 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $106,017,000 after purchasing an additional 424,924 shares in the last quarter. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 172.7% during the second quarter. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC now owns 1,910,615 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210,006 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 34.1% during the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,336,687 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,451,000 after purchasing an additional 339,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MFN Partners Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air during the second quarter worth $17,208,000. Institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FWRD shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $47.00 price target on Forward Air and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Forward Air has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.20.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of FWRD opened at $39.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.70, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Forward Air Co. has a 1-year low of $11.21 and a 1-year high of $77.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.59.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The transportation company reported ($23.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($23.11). The company had revenue of $643.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $642.92 million. Forward Air had a negative net margin of 30.77% and a negative return on equity of 79.11%. Forward Air’s quarterly revenue was up 92.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Forward Air Co. will post -1.01 EPS for the current year.

Forward Air 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.