Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Cut to “Hold” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $21.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $25.00.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Fortrea from $26.00 to $21.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $42.00 to $30.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Fortrea from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Fortrea from $38.00 to $28.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Fortrea in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. They set a neutral rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $24.90.

Fortrea Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FTRE opened at $19.84 on Wednesday. Fortrea has a 52-week low of $18.07 and a 52-week high of $41.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.56. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $23.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.31.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $662.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $689.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Fortrea’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortrea will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortrea

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in Fortrea during the 4th quarter valued at $347,110,000. Baupost Group LLC MA increased its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 933.7% during the 2nd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 3,140,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,296,000 after purchasing an additional 2,836,563 shares during the period. Gates Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortrea during the fourth quarter valued at about $67,859,000. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortrea by 228.6% in the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,985,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,350,000 after buying an additional 1,381,489 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortrea during the second quarter worth about $23,192,000.

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.