Werner Enterprises, Inc. (WERN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.14 on January 15th

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 12th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share by the transportation company on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd.

Werner Enterprises has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.9% per year over the last three years. Werner Enterprises has a dividend payout ratio of 41.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Werner Enterprises to earn $1.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.1%.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of WERN opened at $35.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.53. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $33.12 and a 1 year high of $42.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 49.19, a P/E/G ratio of 33.43 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.50.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.06). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. The firm had revenue of $745.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $765.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WERN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “negative” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.57.

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.