Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on WERN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $33.14.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of WERN opened at $32.65 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Werner Enterprises has a 52 week low of $23.02 and a 52 week high of $38.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -136.04, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.37.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.04). Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.48% and a positive return on equity of 0.04%. The company had revenue of $737.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.51 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently -233.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Werner Enterprises

In related news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $49,980.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 57,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,007,740. This trade represents a 2.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,514,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $195,491,000 after acquiring an additional 90,480 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,791,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $99,782,000 after purchasing an additional 24,204 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,058,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $80,511,000 after buying an additional 165,233 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,750,034 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $82,529,000 after buying an additional 120,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 605.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,510,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $75,336,000 after buying an additional 2,154,428 shares during 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.