Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) was the target of a large decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,400,000 shares, a decline of 7.4% from the May 31st total of 6,910,000 shares. Approximately 32.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Forward Air Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRD traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $19.45. 319,741 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,137,780. Forward Air has a one year low of $11.21 and a one year high of $121.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $18.43 and its 200 day moving average is $33.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $514.26 million, a P/E ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.00.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The transportation company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $541.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.00 million. Forward Air had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 5.37%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Forward Air will post -0.46 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FWRD. StockNews.com lowered Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. 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 raised their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.86.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 2,329.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in Forward Air by 98.5% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 116,200.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Forward Air during the 1st quarter worth about $75,000. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Forward Air Company Profile

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.