Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Shares Up 5.4%

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $34.19 and last traded at $33.97. 157,180 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 1,054,493 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Forward Air from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Forward Air presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Forward Air Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market cap of $927.95 million, a PE ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $25.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.82.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The transportation company reported ($23.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($23.11). The firm had revenue of $643.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $642.92 million. Forward Air had a negative return on equity of 79.11% and a negative net margin of 30.77%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 92.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Forward Air Co. will post -1.01 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FWRD. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Forward Air by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 115,358 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,253,000 after buying an additional 18,159 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Forward Air by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,685 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,570,000 after purchasing an additional 13,314 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in Forward Air in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,985,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 356,921 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $22,440,000 after purchasing an additional 24,567 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.03% of the company's stock.

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.