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

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.36.

Several equities research analysts have commented on WERN shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group cut shares of Werner Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,948,542 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $115,347,000 after acquiring an additional 680,194 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 9.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 37.1% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,665,309 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $59,668,000 after buying an additional 450,522 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $31,455,000 after buying an additional 348,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,506,663 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,984,000 after buying an additional 201,843 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN opened at $37.54 on Friday. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $33.12 and a 1 year high of $43.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $37.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.76.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.06). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.48% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The company had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $765.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.71%.

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.