Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.39 EPS

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The transportation company reported ($0.52) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.39), Zacks reports. Forward Air had a negative net margin of 6.86% and a negative return on equity of 40.36%. The company had revenue of $631.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.62) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Forward Air Price Performance

NASDAQ FWRD traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.79. 147,054 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 686,122. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.91, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $640.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.48 and a beta of 1.42. Forward Air has a 1-year low of $9.78 and a 1-year high of $37.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FWRD shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research cut Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Susquehanna raised their price target on Forward Air from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,875 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Forward Air by 7.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,009 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Forward Air by 5.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 15,436 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 6.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 21,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 207.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,600 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 1,753 shares in the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.