Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $21.81 and last traded at $22.1050, with a volume of 16613 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $21.11.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on FTRE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Fortrea in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $23.00 target price on Fortrea in a report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Fortrea from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays raised Fortrea from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortrea presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.10.

Fortrea Stock Down 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.93.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $1,913,490.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 316,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,069,830.52. This represents a 23.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fortrea

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortrea in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Fortrea by 22.3% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Essential Partners LLC grew its stake in Fortrea by 140.2% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 5,647 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Fortrea in the first quarter worth about $100,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Fortrea by 9.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares in 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.