Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD - Free Report) by 53.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,519 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 104,355 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.31% of Forward Air worth $3,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FWRD. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Forward Air by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Forward Air during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Forward Air by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,885 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Forward Air in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Forward Air by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,734 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478 shares in the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on FWRD. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised Forward Air to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $47.00 price objective on Forward Air and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.25.

Forward Air Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRD traded up $1.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.37. 603,956 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 519,428. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07. The stock has a market cap of $966.19 million, a P/E ratio of -1.40 and a beta of 1.02. Forward Air Co. has a 1 year low of $11.21 and a 1 year high of $64.33.

Forward Air 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.