Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Upgraded at Susquehanna

Susquehanna upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a negative rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $38.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock.

WERN has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.29.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of WERN opened at $36.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 50.34, a PEG ratio of 33.43 and a beta of 0.84. Werner Enterprises has a twelve month low of $33.12 and a twelve month high of $42.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $38.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.51.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $765.24 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.48% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 145.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake 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 during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted 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 valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by 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.