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

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.29.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WERN. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 145.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 43.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,071 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the third quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of WERN stock opened at $34.44 on Monday. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $42.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.18, a P/E/G ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 76.71%.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

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.