JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target to $34.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $37.00 to $34.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.36.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.8 %

WERN opened at $37.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.42, a P/E/G ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.10 and a 200 day moving average of $36.76. Werner Enterprises has a 12 month low of $33.12 and a 12 month high of $43.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released 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 firm had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $765.24 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. Werner Enterprises’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 76.71%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 390.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 740 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter worth $29,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the second quarter worth $29,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 145.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. 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.