Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock Price

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WERN. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna raised Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.50.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 0.2 %

WERN opened at $37.52 on Thursday. Werner Enterprises has a one year low of $33.12 and a one year high of $42.48. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.40, a PEG ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.06). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. The business had revenue of $745.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $765.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Werner Enterprises’s quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 0.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 236.8% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 113,363 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,062,000 after buying an additional 79,700 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,924 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 19.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 16,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 2,668 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 86.5% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 10,321 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.