Forward Air’s (FWRD) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their hold rating on shares of Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wolfe Research raised Forward Air from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $57.80.

Forward Air Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of FWRD opened at $25.13 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $664.39 million, a P/E ratio of 7.35 and a beta of 1.00. Forward Air has a 12-month low of $11.21 and a 12-month high of $79.51.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $643.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $642.92 million. Forward Air had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 5.37%. Forward Air’s quarterly revenue was up 92.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Forward Air will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FWRD. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Forward Air in the 4th quarter worth approximately $805,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Forward Air by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,415 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP grew its holdings in Forward Air by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 39,047 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,635 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 15,070 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 122,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,671,000 after purchasing an additional 26,016 shares during the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.