Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. 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 report on Friday, November 7th. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $32.57.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $34.76 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.81. Werner Enterprises has a one year low of $23.02 and a one year high of $38.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.83, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.08.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $737.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.51 million. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.04% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.The firm’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,514,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $195,491,000 after purchasing an additional 90,480 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased 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 worth $99,782,000 after buying an additional 24,204 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.7% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,058,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $80,511,000 after buying an additional 165,233 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,750,034 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $82,529,000 after buying an additional 120,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 123,513 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Werner Enterprises

Here are the key news stories impacting Werner Enterprises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $39 and set an “equal weight” rating, signaling conviction in near‑term upside tied to execution and the company’s strategy. Wells Fargo raises PT
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its target to $39 and kept a “hold” rating, another vote that the stock has upside if integration and dedicated business growth play out. TD Cowen raises PT
• Positive Sentiment: Company commentary and the Business Wire release highlight growth in dedicated revenue and the strategic rationale for the FirstFleet acquisition, which management says should support longer‑term stable revenue. Company Q4 release
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 earnings call transcript is available for investors seeking detail on guidance, cost trends and fleet/dedicated integration plans — useful for assessing execution risk. Earnings call transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry coverage notes the FirstFleet buy is a strategic bet that could spark consolidation in dedicated trucking; outcome depends on scale and margin improvements. FirstFleet M&A context
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan cut its price target to $28 and moved to “underweight” — the most bearish broker action today and a major contributor to selling pressure. JPMorgan cuts PT
• Negative Sentiment: Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating with a $34 target, keeping downside risk from some institutional desks.
• Negative Sentiment: Werner missed Q4 estimates: $0.05 EPS vs. $0.09 expected and revenue of ~$737.6M vs. $767.5M consensus — disappointing results that directly pressure the stock. Earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: News that a long‑running drivers’ lawsuit has a settlement ready raises potential cash/legal overhang and investor concern about contingency costs. Lawsuit settlement

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.