Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Shares Up 4.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)’s stock price was up 4.7% during trading on Wednesday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $14.00 to $17.00. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Forward Air traded as high as $20.36 and last traded at $20.24. Approximately 56,154 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 1,135,704 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.34.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on FWRD. StockNews.com cut shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Wolfe Research raised Forward Air from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.86.

Institutional Trading of Forward Air

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Forward Air by 413.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 837 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Forward Air by 2,329.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 98.5% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 116,200.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Forward Air in the 1st quarter worth about $75,000. 97.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Forward Air Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.33. 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 stock has a market cap of $514.26 million, a PE ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.00.

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

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.