Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) Shares Purchased by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,788 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 2,598 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments owned 0.07% of Forward Air worth $1,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Forward Air by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,685 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,570,000 after purchasing an additional 13,314 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Forward Air by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 115,358 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,253,000 after buying an additional 18,159 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the 4th quarter valued at about $297,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in Forward Air by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 39,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,477,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Forward Air Stock Up 3.1 %

Forward Air stock traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.78. The stock had a trading volume of 596,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 768,632. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.27. Forward Air Co. has a 12 month low of $20.95 and a 12 month high of $121.38. The stock has a market cap of $574.34 million, a P/E ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FWRD shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $80.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research cut Forward Air from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Forward Air from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.14.

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.