Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Reaches New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $30.90 and last traded at $31.13, with a volume of 1191138 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $31.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WERN shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.29.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 56.60 and a beta of 0.84.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 2,390.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 796.3% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 43.1% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,071 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

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.