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

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) have earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.57.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WERN. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of WERN stock opened at $39.93 on Wednesday. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $43.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.70, a PEG ratio of 33.80 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 24.5% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,943,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $152,195,000 after buying an additional 776,277 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 37.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 450,522 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 56,551 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 15.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,506,663 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,984,000 after purchasing an additional 201,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 65.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 879,371 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,455,000 after purchasing an additional 348,154 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.