Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target to $27.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $34.00 to $27.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WERN. StockNews.com raised Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.13.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

NASDAQ WERN opened at $29.80 on Thursday. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $28.77 and a 1 year high of $42.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.18 and a beta of 0.85.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 2.27%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WERN. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 796.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the third quarter valued at $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

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.