Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on FTRE. Citigroup increased their price target on Fortrea from $16.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Fortrea from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $20.00 target price on Fortrea in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $19.00 price target on Fortrea in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortrea has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.45.

Fortrea Price Performance

FTRE opened at $17.48 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 2.03. Fortrea has a 52-week low of $4.40 and a 52-week high of $18.67.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.13. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 16.50% and a positive return on equity of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $636.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $628.50 million. As a group, analysts predict that Fortrea will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Health Investments LP lifted its holdings in Fortrea by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Health Investments LP now owns 1,218,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,020,000 after purchasing an additional 229,788 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortrea by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,331,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,710,000 after buying an additional 258,098 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortrea by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,272,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,702,000 after buying an additional 293,992 shares in the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Fortrea by 587.2% in the 4th quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 224,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,876,000 after buying an additional 192,015 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in Fortrea by 2,830.1% in the 3rd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 304,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,565,000 after buying an additional 294,276 shares during the period.

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.