Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $28.00 to $33.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 0.42% from the company’s previous close.

WERN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $30.57.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $33.14 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Werner Enterprises has a 52 week low of $23.02 and a 52 week high of $38.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.07.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.18). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 0.85% and a return on equity of 0.14%. The company had revenue of $712.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 76,426 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after acquiring an additional 13,782 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 5.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,280,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,408,000 after purchasing an additional 110,468 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 59.5% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 179,372 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,908,000 after purchasing an additional 66,927 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 49.1% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 704,775 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,283,000 after purchasing an additional 232,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 25.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 5,633 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

Werner Enterprises, Inc, founded in 1956 by Clarence L. “Chris” Werner, is a leading transportation and logistics provider based in Omaha, Nebraska. The company began as a one‐truck operation and has since grown into one of North America’s largest carriers, offering an array of services to support diverse supply chains.

Werner’s core business activities include full truckload dry van services, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal transport and brokerage solutions. The company also provides value-added services such as warehousing, freight management and fleet maintenance through its network of terminals and service centers.