Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock Price

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 40.96% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “negative” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.50.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

NASDAQ WERN opened at $36.89 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Werner Enterprises has a 12-month low of $33.12 and a 12-month high of $43.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 50.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.10 and its 200-day moving average is $36.75.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.07). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 4.70%. The business had revenue of $745.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $765.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Werner Enterprises’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. 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.