Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,720,000 shares, a growth of 8.3% from the December 31st total of 5,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,210,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days. Currently, 6.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Fortrea Trading Down 6.8 %

Shares of Fortrea stock opened at $15.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. Fortrea has a twelve month low of $15.53 and a twelve month high of $41.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $19.21 and its 200 day moving average is $20.58.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $674.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $674.86 million. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 10.99% and a positive return on equity of 2.00%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. Research analysts predict that Fortrea will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Fortrea from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup cut Fortrea from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Fortrea from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their target price on Fortrea from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.30.

Insider Activity at Fortrea

In related news, CEO Thomas Pike sold 11,268 shares of Fortrea stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.04, for a total transaction of $203,274.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,868 shares in the company, valued at $2,884,018.72. The trade was a 6.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortrea

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTRE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Fortrea by 21.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 364,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 63,766 shares during the period. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. raised its holdings in Fortrea by 86.4% in the 3rd quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. now owns 1,097,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,944,000 after purchasing an additional 508,664 shares during the period. Starboard Value LP lifted its position in Fortrea by 5.0% during the third quarter. Starboard Value LP now owns 8,400,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Fortrea by 7.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,250,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,014,000 after purchasing an additional 233,577 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its position in Fortrea by 9.0% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 495,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,909,000 after buying an additional 40,748 shares in 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.