Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN – Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $43.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Werner Enterprises from an underperform rating to a buy rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $49.06.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WERN opened at $43.09 on Thursday. Werner Enterprises has a 12-month low of $35.84 and a 12-month high of $50.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.41.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The transportation company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $861.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.51 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 7.33% and a return on equity of 17.34%. The company’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 17th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 14th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 13.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 23.1% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 4,334,690 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $167,059,000 after acquiring an additional 812,355 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth $19,974,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 2,103.2% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 400,163 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,407,000 after purchasing an additional 382,000 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 83.2% during the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 638,408 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,702,000 after purchasing an additional 289,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 120.9% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 45,529 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,867,000 after purchasing an additional 263,296 shares in the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Werner Enterprises

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Werner Enterprises, Inc engages in the provision of logistics services. It operates through the Truckload Transportation Services and Werner Logistics segments. The Truckload Transportation Services segment consists of one-way truckload and specialized services units such as the medium-to-long haul van fleet which provides a consumer non durable products and commodities in truckload quantities.