Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.75.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WERN shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group cut Werner Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “negative” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 390.1% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 740 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter worth about $29,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN opened at $36.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a P/E/G ratio of 6.87 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Werner Enterprises has a 12-month low of $33.12 and a 12-month high of $43.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.04.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $760.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $769.81 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 4.70%. Werner Enterprises’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 7th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 42.75%.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

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.