Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $28.35 and traded as high as $34.01. Werner Enterprises shares last traded at $33.39, with a volume of 651,531 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WERN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $30.57.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $763.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 5th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 5th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 136.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. KBC Group NV grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,614 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 30,464 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $914,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,750,034 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $82,529,000 after acquiring an additional 120,343 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,201,000. Finally, Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,614 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Werner Enterprises

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.