Weiss Asset Management LP Buys 33,261 Shares of Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Weiss Asset Management LP grew its stake in Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) by 73.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 78,803 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,261 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP’s holdings in Forward Air were worth $2,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,964 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Forward Air by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Forward Air in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in Forward Air by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,885 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the period. 97.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FWRD. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Forward Air from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a research report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com raised Forward Air to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $47.00 price target on Forward Air and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRD opened at $33.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.99 and a 200 day moving average of $28.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07. Forward Air Co. has a twelve month low of $11.21 and a twelve month high of $67.20. The firm has a market cap of $981.55 million, a P/E ratio of -1.42 and a beta of 1.02.

Forward Air Company 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.