Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 37.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,310 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.74% of Forward Air worth $6,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FWRD. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,281,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Forward Air in the third quarter valued at $27,870,000. Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new position in shares of Forward Air in the third quarter valued at $22,874,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Forward Air by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 645,931 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,610,000 after buying an additional 203,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Forward Air by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 243,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,717,000 after buying an additional 73,335 shares in the last quarter. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Forward Air Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ FWRD traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.16. The stock had a trading volume of 126,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,129,881. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Forward Air Co. has a 1-year low of $11.21 and a 1-year high of $121.38. The company has a market capitalization of $506.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.33.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The transportation company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.49). Forward Air had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 4.08%. The business had revenue of $541.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Forward Air Co. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FWRD has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Forward Air from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Forward Air from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.86.

Forward Air Profile

Forward Air Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an asset-light freight and logistics company in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Expedited Freight and Intermodal. The Expedited Freight segment provides expedited regional, inter-regional, and national less-than-truckload services; local pick-up and delivery services; and other services, which include shipment consolidation and deconsolidation, warehousing, customs brokerage, and other handling.