Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

WERN has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.29.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:WERN opened at $33.70 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Werner Enterprises has a one year low of $32.39 and a one year high of $42.48. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 61.27 and a beta of 0.84.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 101.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 126,453 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,542,000 after acquiring an additional 16,366 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 70.5% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 55,917 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,009,000 after acquiring an additional 23,120 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 224,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,071,000 after acquiring an additional 96,500 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 379,714 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,639,000 after acquiring an additional 105,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shay Capital LLC purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at about $323,000. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.