Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target Raised to $55.00 at Morgan Stanley

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 26.99% from the stock’s previous close.

WERN has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $39.15.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 0.3%

WERN traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $43.31. 55,521 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,139,769. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $45.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of -288.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.83.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,514,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $195,491,000 after buying an additional 90,480 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,794,752 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $111,601,000 after acquiring an additional 148,826 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 165,233 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 3,055,017 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $89,848,000 after acquiring an additional 304,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 605.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,510,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $75,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154,428 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

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.