Wall Street Zen Downgrades Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) to Sell

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

WERN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $33.15.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 7.2%

WERN opened at $30.80 on Friday. Werner Enterprises has a 52 week low of $23.02 and a 52 week high of $38.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -128.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.04). Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.48% and a positive return on equity of 0.04%. The firm had revenue of $737.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,418 shares of Werner Enterprises stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $49,318.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 55,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,945,801.88. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,660 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 5,473 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 36,697 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after buying an additional 1,598 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $3,717,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 5,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 13,019 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.