Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) Receives $80.14 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.14.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FWRD. StockNews.com cut Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Forward Air from $80.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Forward Air from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of Forward Air stock opened at $20.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a market cap of $547.44 million, a PE ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.49. Forward Air has a fifty-two week low of $20.70 and a fifty-two week high of $121.38.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The transportation company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.16). Forward Air had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $338.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Forward Air will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Forward Air by 15,487.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 726,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $49,942,000 after acquiring an additional 721,877 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the fourth quarter valued at $43,281,000. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 809.8% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 683,566 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $46,988,000 after buying an additional 608,430 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Forward Air during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,870,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new stake in Forward Air during the 3rd quarter worth about $22,874,000. 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.