Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) Receives $17.50 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.50.

Several brokerages recently commented on FWRD. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research raised Forward Air from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 target price on Forward Air in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on Forward Air from $42.00 to $18.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Forward Air by 8.5% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,475,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,820,000 after buying an additional 116,012 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 949,784 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $23,745,000 after acquiring an additional 19,854 shares during the last quarter. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 122.3% during the 4th quarter. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd now owns 849,876 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $21,247,000 after acquiring an additional 467,482 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 784,731 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,618,000 after acquiring an additional 28,693 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Forward Air by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 611,316 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,002,000 after purchasing an additional 121,190 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Forward Air Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FWRD opened at $13.75 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $434.77 million, a PE ratio of -4.69 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.10. Forward Air has a 12 month low of $7.86 and a 12 month high of $32.47.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The transportation company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $582.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.23 million. Forward Air had a negative net margin of 3.71% and a negative return on equity of 41.21%. Forward Air’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.68) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Forward Air will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Forward Air Company Profile

Forward Air Corporation is a leading North American provider of expedited ground transportation and related logistics services, specializing in time-sensitive shipments. The company offers a comprehensive suite of solutions including less-than-truckload (LTL) expedited freight, consolidation and distribution services, container drayage, and final-mile delivery. By integrating transportation management with warehousing, inventory control, and technology-driven tracking, Forward Air supports customers across a variety of industries such as manufacturing, retail, automotive and chemicals.

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Greeneville, Tennessee, Forward Air has developed a broad network of service centers, terminals and rail ramps throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.