Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Shares Down 8.4% – Here’s Why

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)’s share price fell 8.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $30.39 and last traded at $30.39. 727,196 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 1,257,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Evercore boosted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $33.14.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of -126.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.63.

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

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend 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 Werner Enterprises stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $49,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 57,364 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,740. The trade was a 2.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $195,491,000 after purchasing an additional 90,480 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,791,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $99,782,000 after buying an additional 24,204 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.7% during the third 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,750,034 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $82,529,000 after purchasing an additional 120,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 605.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,510,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $75,336,000 after buying an additional 2,154,428 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.