Royce & Associates LP Acquires 106,364 Shares of Forward Air Corporation $FWRD

Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 60.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 281,553 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 106,364 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.90% of Forward Air worth $7,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 337,481.3% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 270,065 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,924,000 after acquiring an additional 269,985 shares in the last quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA bought a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the third quarter valued at about $853,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the third quarter valued at about $8,295,000. Oasis Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,447,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Forward Air by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,353,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,347,000 after purchasing an additional 307,906 shares during the period. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 price target on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Forward Air from $42.00 to $18.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.50.

Forward Air Stock Performance

Shares of Forward Air stock opened at $10.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $327.58 million, a PE ratio of -3.54 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.98, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.89. Forward Air Corporation has a one year low of $7.86 and a one year high of $32.47.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The transportation company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $582.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.23 million. Forward Air had a negative return on equity of 41.21% and a negative net margin of 3.71%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.68) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Forward Air Corporation will post -1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Forward Air

Forward Air Corporation is a leading North American provider of expedited ground transportation and related logistics services, specializing in time-sensitive shipments. The company offers a comprehensive suite of solutions including less-than-truckload (LTL) expedited freight, consolidation and distribution services, container drayage, and final-mile delivery. By integrating transportation management with warehousing, inventory control, and technology-driven tracking, Forward Air supports customers across a variety of industries such as manufacturing, retail, automotive and chemicals.

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Greeneville, Tennessee, Forward Air has developed a broad network of service centers, terminals and rail ramps throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.