Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Receives “Negative” Rating from Susquehanna

Susquehanna restated their negative rating on shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $27.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $32.00.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on WERN. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued an underweight rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Werner Enterprises from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $39.42.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of WERN stock opened at $35.61 on Monday. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $47.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.71. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.83.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.14). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The company had revenue of $769.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $788.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jade Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,118,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,854,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $228,050,000 after buying an additional 48,380 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 14.8% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 305,501 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,951,000 after acquiring an additional 39,445 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 169,187 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,168,000 after acquiring an additional 44,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter valued at $337,000. 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.