Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Trading 6.1% Higher

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)’s stock price traded up 6.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $20.33 and last traded at $20.25. 117,231 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 1,145,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.08.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $24.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Forward Air from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.43.

Forward Air Stock Up 4.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.90 and its 200 day moving average is $35.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $526.68 million, a PE ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.99.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The transportation company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $541.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.00 million. Forward Air had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 5.37%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Forward Air Co. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Forward Air by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,374 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Forward Air during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $231,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Forward Air by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 243,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,717,000 after purchasing an additional 73,335 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Forward Air by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 440,405 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,273,000 after purchasing an additional 70,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Forward Air during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $558,000. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.