Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD)

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 9,170 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 867% compared to the average daily volume of 948 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forward Air

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Forward Air by 742.9% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 463,600 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $14,951,000 after acquiring an additional 408,600 shares during the period. Goldentree Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Forward Air in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,270,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Forward Air in the 4th quarter valued at $11,140,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Forward Air by 688.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 326,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,573,000 after buying an additional 285,465 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Forward Air during the fourth quarter worth $9,198,000. Institutional investors own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Forward Air Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FWRD opened at $21.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. Forward Air has a 52 week low of $11.21 and a 52 week high of $40.92. The firm has a market cap of $615.27 million, a PE ratio of -0.89 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.01 and its 200-day moving average is $32.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Forward Air

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.