Morgan Stanley Cuts Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target to $52.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.36.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $37.54 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.42, a P/E/G ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 0.79. Werner Enterprises has a 12-month low of $33.12 and a 12-month high of $43.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $745.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $765.24 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WERN. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 390.1% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 740 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 145.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. 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.