Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Price Target Raised to $17.00 at Robert W. Baird

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $14.00 to $17.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 12.10% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Forward Air from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.86.

Forward Air Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of FWRD opened at $19.34 on Wednesday. Forward Air has a 52-week low of $11.21 and a 52-week high of $121.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.52. The stock has a market cap of $511.35 million, a PE ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Institutional Trading of Forward Air

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Forward Air by 2,329.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,910 shares during the period. Sona Asset Management US LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the first quarter worth approximately $2,178,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 103.9% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,347 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 10,877 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in Forward Air in the first quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 35.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,604 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 5,427 shares in the last quarter. 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.