LMR Partners LLP Buys New Holdings in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,543 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clearlake Capital Group L.P. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,747,994 shares during the last quarter. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC boosted its stake in Forward Air by 172.7% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. MFN Partners Management LP purchased a new stake in Forward Air during the 2nd quarter valued at $17,208,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 597,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Forward Air by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,407,797 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $106,017,000 after purchasing an additional 424,924 shares during the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of Forward Air stock opened at $34.94 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.40. Forward Air Co. has a 52 week low of $11.21 and a 52 week high of $67.20. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.47 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on FWRD shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Forward Air from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised Forward Air to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $47.00 price objective on Forward Air and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.25.

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.