Bank of America Lowers Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target to $26.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Bank of America from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underperform” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential downside of 9.41% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Werner Enterprises in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Baird R W raised Werner Enterprises to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $30.43.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of WERN stock opened at $28.70 on Wednesday. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $23.02 and a 1 year high of $42.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 0.92%. The business had revenue of $753.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. Werner Enterprises’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, August 11th that allows the company to repurchase 5,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth about $31,634,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 1,642.2% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 620,855 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $18,191,000 after buying an additional 585,218 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises during the 2nd quarter worth about $12,972,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,893,705 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $79,172,000 after buying an additional 424,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises during the 1st quarter worth about $9,102,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

About Werner Enterprises

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.