Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Shares Up 8.8% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) shot up 8.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $14.73 and last traded at $14.5990. 131,781 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,516,176 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Fortrea from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Truist Financial set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $11.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortrea has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.25.

Fortrea Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $11.49 and a 200 day moving average of $12.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.13. Fortrea had a positive return on equity of 9.51% and a negative net margin of 16.50%.The company had revenue of $636.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.51 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortrea news, CFO Jill G. Mcconnell sold 5,061 shares of Fortrea stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.07, for a total value of $45,903.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 69,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,049.72. The trade was a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 8,792 shares of company stock valued at $80,014 over the last three months. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortrea

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FTRE. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Fortrea by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Fortrea by 74.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 2,918 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 137.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 5,036 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fortrea in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Fortrea by 19.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during the last quarter.

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.