Robert W. Baird Increases Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Price Target to $17.00

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) had its price target upped by Robert W. Baird from $14.00 to $17.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on FWRD. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Forward Air from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Benchmark reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Forward Air from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Forward Air has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $76.86.

Forward Air Trading Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ FWRD opened at $18.79 on Wednesday. Forward Air has a 12-month low of $11.21 and a 12-month high of $121.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.01. 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 stock has a market cap of $496.81 million, a P/E ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forward Air

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Forward Air by 43.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 243,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,717,000 after buying an additional 73,335 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Forward Air by 19.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 440,405 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,273,000 after buying an additional 70,196 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Forward Air by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 9,668 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $665,000 after buying an additional 3,125 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 673,369 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,287,000 after acquiring an additional 45,912 shares during the period. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Forward Air by 5,499.6% in the third quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. now owns 25,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 25,463 shares during the period. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.