Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Trading 3.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) shot up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $18.44 and last traded at $18.42. 333,891 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 1,265,376 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on Fortrea from $26.00 to $21.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Fortrea from $38.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Fortrea from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.60.

Fortrea Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.10). Fortrea had a negative net margin of 10.09% and a positive return on equity of 1.98%. The firm had revenue of $662.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $689.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fortrea during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fortrea by 60.2% in the third quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 4,630 shares in the last quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 86.4% in the third quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. now owns 1,097,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,944,000 after buying an additional 508,664 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Fortrea by 26.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel raised its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 1.2% during the third quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 184,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,687,000 after acquiring an additional 2,252 shares during the period.

About Fortrea

Fortrea Holdings Inc, a contract research organization, primarily engages in the provision of biopharmaceutical product and medical device development services worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Clinical Services and Enabling Services. The Clinical Services segment provides across the clinical pharmacology and clinical development spectrum.