Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on FTRE. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Fortrea from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on Fortrea from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Fortrea from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.00.

Fortrea Stock Up 3.1%

FTRE stock opened at $20.00 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.98, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.92. Fortrea has a twelve month low of $8.55 and a twelve month high of $21.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortrea news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of Fortrea stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $1,913,490.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 316,797 shares in the company, valued at $6,069,830.52. The trade was a 23.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortrea

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FTRE. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Fortrea by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Fortrea by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Fortrea by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 12,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Fortrea by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 33,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortrea in the second quarter valued at approximately $59,000.

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.