Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $27.66, but opened at $24.63. Werner Enterprises shares last traded at $23.67, with a volume of 263,831 shares trading hands.

The transportation company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.24). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. The firm had revenue of $712.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $738.41 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 193.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WERN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI cut shares of Werner Enterprises from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.92.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,660,846 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after buying an additional 143,953 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,730,457 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $241,758,000 after purchasing an additional 32,228 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 12.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 435,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,804,000 after purchasing an additional 49,568 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,479 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 45.27 and a beta of 1.06.

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.