Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Receives $41.85 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.83.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Werner Enterprises from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN opened at $36.86 on Friday. Werner Enterprises has a fifty-two week low of $33.12 and a fifty-two week high of $47.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.04. The company has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.14, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.82.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $769.08 million during 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%. Werner Enterprises’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 firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.52 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuance Investments LLC grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,268,348 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $96,110,000 after acquiring an additional 812,563 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,420,141 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $272,021,000 after purchasing an additional 565,193 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,973,767 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $168,369,000 after purchasing an additional 282,210 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 35.0% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 962,645 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,495,000 after buying an additional 249,838 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the 4th quarter worth about $10,302,000. 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.