Wall Street Zen Downgrades Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) to Hold

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

FTRE has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays upped their price target on Fortrea from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $19.00 target price on Fortrea in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.45.

Fortrea Price Performance

NASDAQ:FTRE opened at $17.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.66. Fortrea has a 52-week low of $4.36 and a 52-week high of $18.67. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.52, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 2.03.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.13. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 16.50% and a positive return on equity of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $636.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $628.50 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fortrea will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortrea

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTRE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortrea by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,331,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,710,000 after acquiring an additional 258,098 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Fortrea by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,272,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,702,000 after purchasing an additional 293,992 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Fortrea by 494.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,515,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,729,000 after purchasing an additional 5,419,842 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Fortrea by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,110,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,913,000 after purchasing an additional 39,777 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Fortrea by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,219,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,528,000 after purchasing an additional 565,891 shares during the period.

About Fortrea

Fortrea, Inc is a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that provides integrated solutions for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Established as a spin-off from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Pharma Services business in October 2023, Fortrea leverages a legacy of scientific expertise and manufacturing scale to support drug development from early-stage research through commercial production. The company’s comprehensive offerings address the complex needs of both small-molecule and biologics programs, making it a single source for clients seeking to accelerate timelines and manage costs.

Fortrea’s core services encompass analytical and formulation development, process optimization, clinical and commercial manufacturing, and packaging services.