Squarepoint Ops LLC Boosts Stock Position in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 305.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 165,488 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 124,704 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Forward Air were worth $3,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in shares of Forward Air during the 1st quarter valued at $3,437,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 410,664 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,818,000 after acquiring an additional 77,909 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 244.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 95,963 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,985,000 after acquiring an additional 68,093 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Forward Air by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 194,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,051,000 after acquiring an additional 53,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new position in Forward Air in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $611,000. 97.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FWRD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of FWRD stock opened at $34.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. Forward Air Co. has a fifty-two week low of $11.21 and a fifty-two week high of $79.51. The firm has a market cap of $909.73 million, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $30.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.78.

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

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.