Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 355,927 Shares of Forward Air Corporation $FWRD

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 85.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 355,927 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.19% of Forward Air worth $1,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FWRD. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,805,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,295,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 15.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,353,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $60,347,000 after acquiring an additional 307,906 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Forward Air by 1,179.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 321,092 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,451,000 after acquiring an additional 296,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Forward Air Trading Up 7.8%

NASDAQ:FWRD opened at $10.38 on Thursday. Forward Air Corporation has a 1-year low of $7.86 and a 1-year high of $32.47. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $328.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.54 and a beta of 1.59.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Forward Air Profile

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.