Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WERN. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Stephens reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $40.83.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of WERN stock opened at $36.53 on Tuesday. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $47.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.89, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.37 and its 200-day moving average is $39.05.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.14). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The business had revenue of $769.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $788.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Werner Enterprises’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,420,141 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $272,021,000 after buying an additional 565,193 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,973,767 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $168,369,000 after purchasing an additional 282,210 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,811,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $161,484,000 after purchasing an additional 33,906 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,948,542 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $115,347,000 after purchasing an additional 680,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,421,798 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $55,621,000 after purchasing an additional 48,340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

About Werner Enterprises

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.