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

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.57.

WERN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup started coverage on Werner Enterprises in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ WERN opened at $39.24 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Werner Enterprises has a twelve month low of $33.12 and a twelve month high of $43.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $37.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.17. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 33.53 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is 76.71%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 390.1% during 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 in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 145.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. 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.