Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target Raised to $30.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $23.00 to $30.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on WERN. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $30.21.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of WERN opened at $33.09 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.10. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 80.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.07. Werner Enterprises has a 1-year low of $23.02 and a 1-year high of $38.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.59.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $712.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.63 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 0.85% and a return on equity of 0.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 5th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 136.59%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 57.8% in the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,018 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 289.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 306.9% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,294 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 413.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.