Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Stock Gets Downgrade from Zacks Research

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on FTRE. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fortrea from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Fortrea from $19.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Fortrea to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.10.

Fortrea Stock Performance

Fortrea stock opened at $20.92 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.98 and a 200-day moving average of $16.16. Fortrea has a 52 week low of $8.55 and a 52 week high of $23.51.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $678.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $647.57 million. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 3.18% and a positive return on equity of 10.72%. On average, analysts expect that Fortrea will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortrea

In related news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $1,913,490.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 316,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,069,830.52. This represents a 23.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortrea

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Fortrea during the second quarter valued at $41,488,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 81.4% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,432,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,496,000 after purchasing an additional 643,000 shares during the period. Eagle Health Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Fortrea by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Health Investments LP now owns 1,307,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,317,000 after buying an additional 89,000 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Fortrea by 163.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,299,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,241,000 after buying an additional 807,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in shares of Fortrea by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 389,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,771,000 after buying an additional 82,059 shares during the last quarter.

Fortrea Company Profile

Fortrea Holdings Inc is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. The company supports the development and commercialization of healthcare products across a range of therapeutic areas.

Its services include clinical trial management, study design, patient recruitment and engagement, data management, biostatistics, regulatory support, medical affairs and post-approval services. Fortrea also provides technology-enabled and decentralized clinical trial solutions intended to help sponsors conduct research across traditional and remote settings.

Fortrea serves customers internationally, with operations and clinical trial capabilities spanning North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other global markets.