Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

WERN has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore raised shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.15.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

WERN stock opened at $43.32 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.00. Werner Enterprises has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $45.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of -288.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.50 million. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.66% and a negative net margin of 0.28%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. Analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,429 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,614 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 1,680 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

Werner Enterprises, Inc, founded in 1956 by Clarence L. “Chris” Werner, is a leading transportation and logistics provider based in Omaha, Nebraska. The company began as a one‐truck operation and has since grown into one of North America’s largest carriers, offering an array of services to support diverse supply chains.

Werner’s core business activities include full truckload dry van services, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal transport and brokerage solutions. The company also provides value-added services such as warehousing, freight management and fleet maintenance through its network of terminals and service centers.