Wall Street analysts forecast that Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) will report $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the current quarter, according to Zacks. Five analysts have made estimates for Forward Air’s earnings, with the highest EPS estimate coming in at $0.78 and the lowest estimate coming in at $0.74. Forward Air reported earnings per share of $0.64 in the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year over year growth rate of 17.2%. The firm is expected to report its next quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 25th.
According to Zacks, analysts expect that Forward Air will report full-year earnings of $3.01 per share for the current year, with EPS estimates ranging from $2.90 to $3.10. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the business will post earnings of $3.38 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $3.28 to $3.59. Zacks Investment Research’s EPS calculations are an average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that cover Forward Air.
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Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 25th. The transportation company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. Forward Air had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $302.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $291.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis.
Several research analysts recently commented on FWRD shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Forward Air from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Stephens set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Forward Air and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. BidaskClub lowered shares of Forward Air from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Forward Air from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.80.
Shares of Forward Air stock traded up $0.78 on Wednesday, hitting $57.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 222,101. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.53 and a beta of 1.26. Forward Air has a twelve month low of $56.47 and a twelve month high of $57.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 25th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 24th. Forward Air’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.42%.
In related news, Director George M. Lynch sold 2,443 shares of Forward Air stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.47, for a total transaction of $135,513.21. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $551,371.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.95% of the company’s stock.
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FWRD. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Forward Air by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 52,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Forward Air by 36.3% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,613 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Forward Air by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC increased its stake in Forward Air by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 5,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Forward Air by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 6,696 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.77% of the company’s stock.
About Forward Air
Forward Air Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an asset-light freight and logistics company in the United State and Canada. The company operates through four segments: Expedited Less-than-truckload (LTL), Truckload Premium Services (TLS), Intermodal, and Pool Distribution (Pool).
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