Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Hits New 12-Month Low at $21.70

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $21.70 and last traded at $22.06, with a volume of 291669 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FWRD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Forward Air from $80.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Forward Air from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. Wolfe Research cut shares of Forward Air from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.14.

Forward Air Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $587.26 million, a PE ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The transportation company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $338.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $406.96 million. Forward Air had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Forward Air Co. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Forward Air by 413.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 837 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in Forward Air by 86.9% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Forward Air in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Forward Air by 306.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Forward Air by 116,200.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Forward Air

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.