Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.08.

WERN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Thursday, May 16th.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $35.77 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $36.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.76. Werner Enterprises has a 12-month low of $33.12 and a 12-month high of $47.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.83.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $769.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $788.30 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 42.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 139.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 703 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises in the first quarter worth about $84,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 46.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,402 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.