Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases New Stake in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,120 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FWRD. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 62.2% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,885 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Forward Air by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,734 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 1,478 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on FWRD. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Forward Air from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Forward Air and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Forward Air to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Forward Air presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

Forward Air Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of FWRD stock opened at $32.25 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07. Forward Air Co. has a 12 month low of $11.21 and a 12 month high of $64.33. The company has a market cap of $933.77 million, a PE ratio of -1.35 and a beta of 1.02.

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.