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

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four 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 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.75.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WERN shares. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “negative” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

WERN stock opened at $36.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $33.12 and a 1 year high of $43.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.03). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 4.70%. The company had revenue of $760.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Werner Enterprises’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jade Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth $2,118,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 34.9% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 327,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,829,000 after purchasing an additional 84,800 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 14.8% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 305,501 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,951,000 after purchasing an additional 39,445 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1,048.4% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 91,312 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,572,000 after purchasing an additional 83,361 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth $8,855,000. 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.