Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock Price

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $34.00 to $27.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WERN. StockNews.com upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.13.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

WERN opened at $29.33 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.33 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.22. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $28.77 and a 52-week high of $42.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 101.82%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 796.3% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 3rd quarter valued at $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.