State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Position in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Posted by MarketBeat News on Aug 2nd, 2022

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD – Get Rating) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,623 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,621 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.10% of Forward Air worth $2,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FWRD. UMB Bank N A MO bought a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. purchased a new stake in Forward Air in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Eaton Vance Management lifted its position in Forward Air by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 997 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA purchased a new position in Forward Air in the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Forward Air in the 4th quarter worth $225,000. 97.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of Forward Air stock opened at $105.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 1.13. Forward Air Co. has a one year low of $80.56 and a one year high of $125.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.05.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The transportation company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $515.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $515.72 million. Forward Air had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 27.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. Analysts forecast that Forward Air Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Forward Air Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 18th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 17th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Forward Air’s payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna Bancshares dropped their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $143.00 to $133.00 in a report on Friday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 2nd. Benchmark began coverage on Forward Air in a report on Tuesday, July 19th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Forward Air from $143.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Friday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “maintains” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Forward Air currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.83.

Forward Air Company Profile

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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 final mile, truckload, shipment consolidation and deconsolidation, warehousing, customs brokerage, and other handling.