Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

FTRE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Fortrea from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. William Blair raised shares of Fortrea to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $19.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.10.

Fortrea Price Performance

FTRE stock opened at $20.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.90, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.93. Fortrea has a fifty-two week low of $8.55 and a fifty-two week high of $23.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $18.88 and a 200-day moving average of $16.00.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.05. Fortrea had a positive return on equity of 10.72% and a negative net margin of 3.18%. The company had revenue of $678.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $647.57 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fortrea will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $1,913,490.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 316,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,069,830.52. This represents a 23.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fortrea during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Fortrea by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Fortrea in the 2nd quarter valued at $115,000. Essential Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Fortrea by 140.2% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 5,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortrea during the 2nd quarter valued at $177,000.

Fortrea Company Profile

Fortrea Holdings Inc is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. The company supports the development and commercialization of healthcare products across a range of therapeutic areas.

Its services include clinical trial management, study design, patient recruitment and engagement, data management, biostatistics, regulatory support, medical affairs and post-approval services. Fortrea also provides technology-enabled and decentralized clinical trial solutions intended to help sponsors conduct research across traditional and remote settings.

Fortrea serves customers internationally, with operations and clinical trial capabilities spanning North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other global markets.