Natixis Advisors L.P. Sells 405 Shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 2nd, 2023

Natixis Advisors L.P. lessened its holdings in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD – Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,113 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 405 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.12% of Forward Air worth $3,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FWRD. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Forward Air by 1.7% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,704 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Forward Air by 1.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 653 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Forward Air by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,287 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $869,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Forward Air by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,053 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Forward Air

In other news, CEO Thomas Schmitt bought 16,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $62.70 per share, with a total value of $1,006,335.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,632,213.30. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Forward Air news, COO Chris C. Ruble bought 1,433 shares of Forward Air stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $69.77 per share, with a total value of $99,980.41. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 28,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,972,816.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas Schmitt purchased 16,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $62.70 per share, for a total transaction of $1,006,335.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 73,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,632,213.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 23,302 shares of company stock worth $1,471,544. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRD opened at $71.72 on Friday. Forward Air Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.42.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The transportation company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.37). The company had revenue of $402.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $444.15 million. Forward Air had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 8.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Forward Air Co. will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Forward Air Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Forward Air’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FWRD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James lowered shares of Forward Air from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered Forward Air from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 15th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Forward Air in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Forward Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Forward Air from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Forward Air presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.14.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Forward Air

Forward Air Profile

(Free Report)

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 final mile, truckload, shipment consolidation and deconsolidation, warehousing, customs brokerage, and other handling.