Forward Air Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 9,170 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 867% compared to the typical daily volume of 948 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Air

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FWRD. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Forward Air by 812.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Forward Air by 122.9% in the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,070 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Forward Air in the 4th quarter valued at $72,000. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Forward Air by 155.9% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,925 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 1,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Forward Air in the 4th quarter valued at $138,000. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of FWRD traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.94. The company had a trading volume of 173,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 856,087. Forward Air has a twelve month low of $11.21 and a twelve month high of $40.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.23 and its 200-day moving average is $32.37. The company has a market capitalization of $606.38 million, a P/E ratio of -0.88 and a beta of 1.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FWRD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Forward Air from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Forward Air in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Forward Air from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Forward Air has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

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.