Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on FWRD. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Forward Air from $42.00 to $18.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Forward Air from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Forward Air from $19.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Forward Air currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.50.

Forward Air Price Performance

FWRD stock opened at $19.35 on Friday. Forward Air has a one year low of $7.86 and a one year high of $32.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.98, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $611.85 million, a PE ratio of -2.17 and a beta of 1.36.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The transportation company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($0.74). The company had revenue of $582.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.23 million. Forward Air had a negative return on equity of 19.49% and a negative net margin of 11.37%.Forward Air’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.68) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Forward Air will post -2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AlpInvest Partners B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,396,000. Carlyle Group Inc. purchased a new position in Forward Air in the second quarter worth about $1,448,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Forward Air in the second quarter worth about $37,485,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Forward Air during the second quarter worth approximately $8,293,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Forward Air during the second quarter worth approximately $148,000. 97.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.