Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) have received an average rating of “Reduce” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.9286.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 0.1%

WERN opened at $25.52 on Friday. Werner Enterprises has a one year low of $23.02 and a one year high of $41.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.30.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $712.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $763.63 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 0.92% and a net margin of 1.77%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, August 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 5,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 5th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is 136.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,813,038 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $199,622,000 after acquiring an additional 82,581 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 0.6% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,791,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $99,782,000 after purchasing an additional 24,204 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,058,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $80,511,000 after purchasing an additional 165,233 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,404,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $63,287,000 after purchasing an additional 123,513 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,965,037 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $56,023,000 after buying an additional 129,850 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.