Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Forward Air Put Options (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 9,170 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 867% compared to the typical volume of 948 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on FWRD. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Forward Air from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.00.

Forward Air Price Performance

FWRD stock opened at $21.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.30. The stock has a market cap of $615.27 million, a PE ratio of -0.89 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07. Forward Air has a 1 year low of $11.21 and a 1 year high of $40.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FWRD. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 742.9% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 463,600 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $14,951,000 after buying an additional 408,600 shares during the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air during the 3rd quarter worth about $14,270,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air during the 4th quarter worth about $11,140,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 688.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 326,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,573,000 after buying an additional 285,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air during the 4th quarter worth about $9,198,000. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.