Analysts Set Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Target Price at $41.54

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.5385.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WERN. Zacks Research lowered shares of Werner Enterprises from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Robert W. Baird raised Werner Enterprises from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WERN. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $128,000. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of WERN opened at $38.50 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.45. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $23.06 and a 52-week high of $47.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -50.66, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.63 and its 200-day moving average is $37.10.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $813.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.12 million. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 1.42% and a positive return on equity of 1.18%. The business’s revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 5th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -73.68%.

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.