Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.1538.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $41.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Werner Enterprises has a twelve month low of $23.06 and a twelve month high of $41.61. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of -276.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.88.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.05. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.66% and a negative net margin of 0.28%.The company had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $812.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. Werner Enterprises’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 6th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently -373.33%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 605.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,510,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $75,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154,428 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1,361.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,921,152 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $56,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789,653 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 539.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,670,737 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,556 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,201,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 572.4% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,297,054 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $38,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

About Werner Enterprises

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.