Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Receives $44.50 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.50.

Several brokerages have recently commented on WERN. StockNews.com raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Werner Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays cut shares of Werner Enterprises from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 1.3% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,118 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $845,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 16,574 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 3.8% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,586 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 4.1% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 7,556 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 14,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WERN opened at $36.97 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.20 and its 200 day moving average is $39.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.78. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $35.02 and a 52-week high of $47.27.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.05). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 3.42% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The business had revenue of $821.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $820.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.82%.

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.