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

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.0714.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 57.8% in the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,018 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 0.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 126,854 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,717,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 15.9% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 6.9% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 3.0% in the first quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 14,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 2.3%

WERN stock opened at $26.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.57. 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 has a twelve month low of $23.02 and a twelve month high of $42.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.18). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 0.92% and a net margin of 1.77%.The business had revenue of $771.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.63 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 6th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 6th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.59%.

Werner Enterprises announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, August 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.