Wall Street Zen Downgrades Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) to Sell

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $33.14.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ WERN opened at $33.21 on Friday. 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 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -138.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.05.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth about $34,201,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the second quarter worth about $12,972,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 17.2% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,893,705 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $79,172,000 after buying an additional 424,935 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 180.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 578,761 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,369,000 after buying an additional 372,629 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 222.8% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 339,589 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,938,000 after buying an additional 234,394 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.