Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Stock Price Up 6.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) rose 6.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $16.30 and last traded at $16.38. 220,768 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 871,075 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FWRD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Forward Air from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Forward Air from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Forward Air from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Forward Air from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.50.

Forward Air Stock Down 4.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.98, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $494.54 million, a P/E ratio of -1.76 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.35.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Air

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,485,000. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the second quarter worth $14,485,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the second quarter worth $8,293,000. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 122.3% during the fourth quarter. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd now owns 849,876 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $21,247,000 after purchasing an additional 467,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the second quarter valued at $2,987,000. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Forward Air Company Profile

Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ: FWRD) is a transportation and logistics company that provides time-definite, less-than-truckload and other supply chain services. Its offerings include expedited ground transportation, intermodal drayage, truckload services, final-mile delivery, pool distribution and freight forwarding.

The company serves a range of industries, including aviation, automotive, healthcare, retail and manufacturing. Forward Air’s network is focused primarily on North America, with international logistics capabilities provided through its global forwarding operations.

Founded in 1981, Forward Air has historically operated an asset-light transportation model that emphasizes the movement of shipments between key distribution centers and transportation hubs.