Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Declares $0.14 Quarterly Dividend

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share by the transportation company on Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th.

Werner Enterprises has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 4 years. Werner Enterprises has a payout ratio of 42.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Werner Enterprises to earn $1.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.7%.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ WERN traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 438,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,173,405. The company has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -245.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.95. Werner Enterprises has a 12 month low of $23.06 and a 12 month high of $38.46.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $812.50 million. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.66% and a negative net margin of 0.28%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WERN shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Werner Enterprises from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $35.15.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

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.