Stifel Nicolaus Increases Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Price Target to $36.00

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) had its price target raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on FWRD. Jefferies Financial Group set a $47.00 price target on Forward Air and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Forward Air currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.40.

Forward Air Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FWRD opened at $36.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.70. Forward Air has a twelve month low of $11.21 and a twelve month high of $77.55. The stock has a market cap of $971.60 million, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.79.

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

Institutional Trading of Forward Air

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clearlake Capital Group L.P. lifted its stake in Forward Air by 255.2% during the 2nd quarter. Clearlake Capital Group L.P. now owns 3,825,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $72,828,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747,994 shares during the period. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $36,378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210,006 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Forward Air in the first quarter worth approximately $31,007,000. MFN Partners Management LP bought a new stake in Forward Air in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $17,208,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Forward Air by 712.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 680,929 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $12,965,000 after buying an additional 597,120 shares during the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.