Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on WERN. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WERN opened at $37.52 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.40, a PEG ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 0.84. Werner Enterprises has a 1-year low of $33.12 and a 1-year high of $42.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.06). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.48% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The business had revenue of $745.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $765.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 76.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 145.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 2,390.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 43.1% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,071 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.