Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.57.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $34.00 target price for the company.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $40.85 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.25. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.96, a P/E/G ratio of 34.07 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $33.12 and a 1 year high of $43.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $745.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $765.24 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.48% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,879 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 2.5% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,221 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 145.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 390.1% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 740 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,071 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Werner Enterprises

Werner Enterprises, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in transporting truckload shipments of general commodities in interstate and intrastate commerce in the United States, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Truckload Transportation Services and Werner Logistics.