Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.24

Forward Air Co. (NASDAQ:FWRD) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share by the transportation company on Thursday, December 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 21st.

Forward Air has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Forward Air has a dividend payout ratio of 22.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Forward Air to earn $4.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.5%.

Forward Air Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of FWRD stock opened at $65.83 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Forward Air has a 1-year low of $60.09 and a 1-year high of $121.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 1.16.

Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.11). Forward Air had a return on equity of 19.06% and a net margin of 6.30%. The company had revenue of $413.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $420.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Forward Air will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Chris C. Ruble bought 1,433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $69.77 per share, for a total transaction of $99,980.41. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 28,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,972,816.52. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Forward Air news, insider Kyle R. Mitchin acquired 1,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $68.63 per share, for a total transaction of $75,012.59. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 18,896 shares in the company, valued at $1,296,832.48. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Chris C. Ruble bought 1,433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $69.77 per share, for a total transaction of $99,980.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 28,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,972,816.52. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 2,841 shares of company stock worth $195,358 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Forward Air

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Forward Air in the first quarter valued at about $45,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Forward Air by 39.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Forward Air by 137.8% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 761 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Forward Air by 156.0% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new position in Forward Air in the fourth quarter worth $166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FWRD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Forward Air in a report on Monday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Forward Air from $103.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, October 5th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Forward Air from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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, August 29th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Forward Air from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Forward Air presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.57.

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