Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Barclays from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential downside of 2.37% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on WERN. Citigroup assumed coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.57.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 1.0 %

WERN traded down $0.42 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.97. 116,429 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 752,225. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.01. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 56.48, a P/E/G ratio of 16.27 and a beta of 0.80. Werner Enterprises has a fifty-two week low of $33.12 and a fifty-two week high of $43.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.06). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. The company had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $765.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 34.9% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 327,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,829,000 after purchasing an additional 84,800 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 65.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 879,371 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,455,000 after buying an additional 348,154 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 14.8% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 252,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,047,000 after acquiring an additional 32,503 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 90.8% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 176,164 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,892,000 after acquiring an additional 83,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 15.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,506,663 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,984,000 after acquiring an additional 201,843 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently 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.