Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD – Get Rating) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $139.50.
FWRD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 2nd. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Forward Air from $143.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Friday, April 29th. Susquehanna Bancshares reduced their price target on shares of Forward Air from $143.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Friday, April 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $136.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 28th.
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FWRD. Radnor Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Forward Air in the 4th quarter valued at about $401,000. Fractal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air during the 4th quarter worth approximately $363,000. JB Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318 shares during the period. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its stake in Forward Air by 33.4% during the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 32,743 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,718,000 after acquiring an additional 8,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Forward Air by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,277,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $153,713,000 after buying an additional 307,392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.66% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Forward Air stock opened at $91.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Forward Air has a twelve month low of $80.56 and a twelve month high of $125.71. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23 and a beta of 1.16.
Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 27th. The transportation company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.05. Forward Air had a net margin of 7.77% and a return on equity of 24.69%. The business had revenue of $466.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $453.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Forward Air will post 6.39 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 26th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 25th. Forward Air’s payout ratio is 19.12%.
About Forward Air (Get Rating)
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.