Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Hold" by the eight analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $76.43.

Several research firms recently weighed in on FWRD. StockNews.com downgraded Forward Air from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Forward Air from $24.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Wolfe Research raised Forward Air from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Air

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sona Asset Management US LLC purchased a new position in shares of Forward Air in the 1st quarter worth $2,178,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 103.9% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,347 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 10,877 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air in the first quarter worth about $236,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 35.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,604 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 5,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 22.4% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 73,193 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 13,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.03% of the company's stock.

Forward Air Stock Performance

Shares of FWRD stock traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.18. 6,385,330 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,289,165. The company has a market cap of $533.56 million, a P/E ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50 day moving average is $19.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.73. Forward Air has a 1 year low of $11.21 and a 1 year high of $121.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The transportation company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $541.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $644.00 million. Forward Air had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 4.08%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Forward Air will post -0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Forward Air Company Profile

Forward Air Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an asset-light freight and logistics company in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Expedited Freight and Intermodal. The Expedited Freight segment provides expedited regional, inter-regional, and national less-than-truckload services; local pick-up and delivery services; and other services, which include shipment consolidation and deconsolidation, warehousing, customs brokerage, and other handling.