Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $6.00 and last traded at $6.22, with a volume of 258 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FTRE. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Fortrea from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $25.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup cut Fortrea from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortrea presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.00.

Fortrea Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.28 and a 200 day moving average of $16.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $568.35 million, a PE ratio of -1.81, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 2.10.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.18). Fortrea had a positive return on equity of 2.00% and a negative net margin of 10.99%. The business had revenue of $697.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortrea

In related news, CEO Thomas Pike sold 11,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.04, for a total transaction of $203,274.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,884,018.72. This trade represents a 6.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 13,029 shares of company stock worth $226,168 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortrea

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Fortrea by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,086,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,819,000 after purchasing an additional 3,265,402 shares in the last quarter. Corvex Management LP boosted its holdings in Fortrea by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. Corvex Management LP now owns 3,480,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260,156 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Fortrea in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,787,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Fortrea by 2,996.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 321,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,005,000 after purchasing an additional 311,582 shares during the period. Finally, Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortrea in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,627,000.

About Fortrea

Fortrea Holdings Inc, a contract research organization, primarily engages in the provision of biopharmaceutical product and medical device development services worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Clinical Services and Enabling Services. The Clinical Services segment provides across the clinical pharmacology and clinical development spectrum.