Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.69.

Several analysts have commented on WERN shares. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group lowered shares of Werner Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $36.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.85. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $33.12 and a 1 year high of $47.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.80.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.14). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 2.59%. The business had revenue of $769.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $788.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 42.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WERN. Nuance Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,268,348 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $96,110,000 after purchasing an additional 812,563 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,420,141 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $272,021,000 after purchasing an additional 565,193 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,973,767 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $168,369,000 after purchasing an additional 282,210 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,302,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,855,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

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.