Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Shares Up 5.5% – Time to Buy?

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) was up 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $19.48 and last traded at $19.45. Approximately 396,844 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 1,278,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Fortrea from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Fortrea from $26.00 to $21.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Fortrea from $42.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Fortrea from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.60.

Fortrea Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.65, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.31 and its 200-day moving average is $26.50.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortrea

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Fortrea in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Fortrea during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in Fortrea by 152.8% during the 1st quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 862 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Fortrea by 2,515.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its position in Fortrea by 125.0% in the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during 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.