Stephens Cuts Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target to $40.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price lowered by Stephens from $42.00 to $40.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on WERN. StockNews.com raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $41.85.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

WERN stock opened at $36.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.51 and a 200-day moving average of $39.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.82. Werner Enterprises has a 12-month low of $33.12 and a 12-month high of $47.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $769.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $788.30 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 42.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 139.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 703 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Strs Ohio grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 35.3% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 46.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,402 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.