Wall Street Zen Upgrades Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) to “Buy”

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

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on FTRE. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Fortrea from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $23.00 price target on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Fortrea from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Fortrea from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.95.

Fortrea Stock Performance

FTRE stock opened at $19.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. Fortrea has a twelve month low of $5.26 and a twelve month high of $21.39. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.07, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.05 and a 200-day moving average of $13.80.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortrea

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fortrea by 494.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,515,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,729,000 after purchasing an additional 5,419,842 shares during the period. Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortrea in the third quarter worth $18,579,000. Iron Triangle Partners LP acquired a new stake in Fortrea in the fourth quarter worth $34,264,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortrea by 2,328.5% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 1,368,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Fortrea by 163.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,299,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,241,000 after purchasing an additional 807,081 shares in the last quarter.

Fortrea Company Profile

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.