Benchmark Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on FWRD. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Forward Air from $80.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Forward Air from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Forward Air from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.14.

Forward Air Stock Up 4.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FWRD opened at $23.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $627.08 million, a PE ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.70. Forward Air has a 1 year low of $22.08 and a 1 year high of $121.38.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FWRD. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 156.2% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 456 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the first quarter worth $45,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 86.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 306.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. 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.