Morgan Stanley Lowers Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target to $52.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 39.04% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Susquehanna raised their target price on Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “negative” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Stephens cut their target price on 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.50.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of WERN stock traded down $0.91 on Wednesday, hitting $37.40. 819,622 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 747,978. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of 37.88, a P/E/G ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.79. Werner Enterprises has a one year low of $33.12 and a one year high of $43.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.74.

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 $0.22 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $765.24 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 4.70% and a net margin of 1.99%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuance Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,167,616 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $113,496,000 after buying an additional 219,074 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 37.1% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,665,309 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,668,000 after buying an additional 450,522 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,516,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $58,537,000 after buying an additional 56,551 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,506,663 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,984,000 after buying an additional 201,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 65.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 879,371 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,455,000 after buying an additional 348,154 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.