Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Given New $36.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on FWRD. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $47.00 price objective on Forward Air and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Forward Air from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Forward Air has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.40.

Forward Air Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FWRD opened at $36.58 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $967.10 million, a P/E ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. Forward Air has a one year low of $11.21 and a one year high of $77.55. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.87.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The transportation company reported ($23.29) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($23.11). Forward Air had a negative net margin of 30.77% and a negative return on equity of 79.11%. The company had revenue of $643.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $642.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 92.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Forward Air will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FWRD. Clearlake Capital Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 255.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clearlake Capital Group L.P. now owns 3,825,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $72,828,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747,994 shares in the last quarter. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 172.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ridgemont Partners Management LLC now owns 1,910,615 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,378,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210,006 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,007,000. MFN Partners Management LP acquired a new position in Forward Air during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $17,208,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Forward Air by 712.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 680,929 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $12,965,000 after purchasing an additional 597,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

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.