Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) Short Interest Up 19.7% in February

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,300,000 shares, an increase of 19.7% from the January 31st total of 6,100,000 shares. Currently, 8.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,110,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut Fortrea from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Fortrea from $22.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $25.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortrea presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.30.

Fortrea Price Performance

NASDAQ:FTRE opened at $10.69 on Friday. Fortrea has a 52 week low of $9.55 and a 52 week high of $41.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.95. The firm has a market cap of $958.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.34.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.18). Fortrea had a positive return on equity of 2.00% and a negative net margin of 10.99%. The business had revenue of $697.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fortrea will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Thomas Pike sold 11,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.04, for a total value of $203,274.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,884,018.72. This trade represents a 6.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,386 shares of company stock worth $219,751. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortrea

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTRE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Fortrea by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 364,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 63,766 shares during the period. Starboard Value LP lifted its position in Fortrea by 5.0% during the third quarter. Starboard Value LP now owns 8,400,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Fortrea by 7.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,250,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,014,000 after buying an additional 233,577 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Fortrea by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 495,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,909,000 after buying an additional 40,748 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fortrea by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,197,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,954,000 after buying an additional 204,021 shares in the last quarter.

Fortrea Company Profile

Fortrea Holdings Inc, a contract research organization, primarily engages in the provision of biopharmaceutical product and medical device development services worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Clinical Services and Enabling Services. The Clinical Services segment provides across the clinical pharmacology and clinical development spectrum.