Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 6,700 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Forward Air were worth $326,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FWRD. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Forward Air in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Forward Air by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,964 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 2,329.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,910 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Forward Air by 98.5% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Forward Air Stock Performance

Forward Air stock opened at $37.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.70, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.82 and a beta of 1.02. Forward Air Co. has a fifty-two week low of $11.21 and a fifty-two week high of $68.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.51.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

About Forward Air

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.