Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Trading Up 5.4% – Should You Buy?

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE)’s stock price shot up 5.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $20.54 and last traded at $20.50. 215,955 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 1,288,490 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on FTRE. Baird R W lowered Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup lowered shares of Fortrea from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Fortrea from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Fortrea from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.30.

Fortrea Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of -5.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.25.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). Fortrea had a negative net margin of 10.99% and a positive return on equity of 2.00%. The company had revenue of $674.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $674.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortrea

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FTRE. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Fortrea during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Fortrea in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Fortrea during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Fortrea by 2,515.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Fortrea by 125.0% in the 2nd quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter.

About Fortrea

Fortrea Holdings Inc, a contract research organization, primarily engages in the provision of biopharmaceutical product and medical device development services worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Clinical Services and Enabling Services. The Clinical Services segment provides across the clinical pharmacology and clinical development spectrum.