Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Monday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $13.85, but opened at $9.61. Fortrea shares last traded at $11.49, with a volume of 1,761,855 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company 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 firm posted $0.19 earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on FTRE. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Fortrea from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Fortrea from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Fortrea from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $22.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortrea has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.30.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Fortrea

In related news, CEO Thomas Pike sold 11,268 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.04, for a total value of $203,274.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,884,018.72. This trade represents a 6.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,386 shares of company stock worth $219,751. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortrea

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

Fortrea Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.95. The firm has a market cap of $958.89 million, a PE ratio of -3.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

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.