Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Fortrea from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $23.00 price objective on Fortrea in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Fortrea from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.75.

Fortrea Stock Performance

Shares of Fortrea stock opened at $18.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of -20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.16 and a 200-day moving average of $14.09. Fortrea has a 1-year low of $8.31 and a 1-year high of $21.39.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.05. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 3.18% and a positive return on equity of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $678.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $647.57 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fortrea will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortrea

In related news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $1,913,490.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 316,797 shares in the company, valued at $6,069,830.52. The trade was a 23.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortrea

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTRE. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 36,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Fortrea by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Fortrea by 9.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Fortrea by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Fortrea by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 9,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares during the period.

About Fortrea

Fortrea, Inc is a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that provides integrated solutions for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Established as a spin-off from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Pharma Services business in October 2023, Fortrea leverages a legacy of scientific expertise and manufacturing scale to support drug development from early-stage research through commercial production. The company’s comprehensive offerings address the complex needs of both small-molecule and biologics programs, making it a single source for clients seeking to accelerate timelines and manage costs.

Fortrea’s core services encompass analytical and formulation development, process optimization, clinical and commercial manufacturing, and packaging services.