Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Trading Up 6.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) were up 6.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $23.39 and last traded at $22.99. Approximately 202,198 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,274,061 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on Fortrea from $26.00 to $21.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Fortrea from $42.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Fortrea from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Fortrea from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortrea has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.50.

Fortrea Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of -6.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.40.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $674.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $674.86 million. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 10.99% and a positive return on equity of 2.00%. Fortrea’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortrea

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Starboard Value LP grew its stake in Fortrea by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Starboard Value LP now owns 8,400,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. grew its stake in Fortrea by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 6,908,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,161,000 after purchasing an additional 158,044 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Fortrea by 5,021,169.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,125,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,519,000 after purchasing an additional 6,125,827 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Fortrea by 91.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,821,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Fortrea by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,250,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,014,000 after purchasing an additional 233,577 shares in the last quarter.

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.