Forward Air (FWRD) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. This segment offers expedited truckload brokerage, dedicated fleet, and high security and temperature-controlled logistics services. The Intermodal segment provides intermodal container drayage services; and contract and container freight station warehouse and handling services. It serves freight forwarders, third-party logistics companies, integrated air cargo carriers and passenger, passenger and cargo airlines, steamship lines, and retailers. Forward Air Corporation was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Greeneville, Tennessee.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $36.53 to $37.69
• 50-Day Range: $21.37 to $36.43
• 52-Week Range: $11.21 to $79.51
• Volume: 388,392 shs
• Average Volume: 1.04 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $968.42 million
• P/E Ratio: 10.71
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $51.00
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Forward Air Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Forward Air scored higher than 63% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 80th out of 130 stocks in the transportation sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Forward Air has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.20, and is based on 1 buy rating, 4 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Forward Air has only been the subject of 2 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: Growing

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Forward Air are expected to grow in the coming year, from ($1.01) to $0.46 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Forward Air is 10.89, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 139.51.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Forward Air is 10.89, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Transportation sector average P/E ratio of about 21.13.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Forward Air has a P/B Ratio of 1.25. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

26.76% of the float of Forward Air has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Forward Air has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 5.3.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Forward Air has recently increased by 8.74%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Yield

Forward Air does not currently pay a dividend.

Dividend Growth

Forward Air does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Forward Air is 28.07%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on EPS estimates, Forward Air will have a dividend payout ratio of 208.70% in the coming year. This indicates that Forward Air may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Percentage of Shares Shorted

26.76% of the float of Forward Air has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Forward Air has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 5.3.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Forward Air has recently increased by 8.74%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.2 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.83

News Sentiment

Forward Air has a news sentiment score of 0.83. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.57 average news sentiment score of Transportation companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 6 news articles for Forward Air this week, compared to 5 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

5 people have searched for FWRD on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 67% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 2 people have added Forward Air to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -71% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Forward Air insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 4.70% of the stock of Forward Air is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

97.03% of the stock of Forward Air is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

FWRD Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have FWRD shares performed this year?

Forward Air's stock was trading at $62.87 at the start of the year. Since then, FWRD stock has decreased by 40.7% and is now trading at $37.26.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were Forward Air's earnings last quarter?

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August, 7th. The transportation company reported ($23.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $23.11. The firm's revenue was up 92.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Does Forward Air have any subsidiaries?

Forward Air subsidiaries include these companies: Atlantic Trucking Company, CLP Towne, Central States Logistics, Central States Trucking, Total Quality, Service Express, Pinch Holdings, and others.

Who are Forward Air's major shareholders?

Forward Air's top institutional investors include Clearlake Capital Group L.P. (14.47%), Ridgemont Partners Management LLC (7.23%), Private Management Group Inc. (5.06%) and MFN Partners Management LP (3.42%). Insiders that own company stock include Thomas Schmitt, Michael L Hance, Chris C Ruble, Kyle R Mitchin, Laurie Anne Tucker, Nancee L Ronning and Javier Polit.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Forward Air?

Shares of FWRD stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

What other stocks do shareholders of Forward Air own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Forward Air investors own include Pfizer (PFE), Verizon Communications (VZ), AbbVie (ABBV), Albemarle (ALB), Carnival Co. & (CCL), Dominion Energy (D) and Eastman Chemical (EMN).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 8/07/2024
• Today: 9/19/2024
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/04/2024
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2024

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Transportation
• Industry: Freight transportation arrangement
• Sub-Industry: Air Freight & Logistics
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:FWRD
• CUSIP: 34985310
• CIK: 912728
• Web: www.forwardair.com
• Phone: (423) 636-7000
• Fax: 423-783-9019
• Employees: 4,251
• Year Founded: 1993

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $51.00
• High Stock Price Target: $75.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $24.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +37.3%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.20
• Research Coverage: 5 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $3.42
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 10.86
• Forward P/E Ratio: N/A
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $167.35 million
• Net Margins: -30.77%
• Pretax Margin: -65.06%
• Return on Equity: -79.11%
• Return on Assets: -22.09%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 4.70
• Current Ratio: 1.33
• Quick Ratio: 1.33

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.86 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.53
• Cash Flow: $7.04 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 5.28
• Book Value: $29.74 per share
• Price / Book: 1.25

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 26,438,000
• Free Float: 25,195,000
• Market Cap: $982.17 million
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.02