Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Given New $36.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its price target boosted by Bank of America from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underperform rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.62.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $43.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of -292.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Werner Enterprises has a 52 week low of $23.06 and a 52 week high of $47.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.23.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $730.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $812.50 million. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.66% and a negative net margin of 0.28%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 6th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently -373.33%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 4th quarter valued at $34,201,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 205,654 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,172,000 after purchasing an additional 30,812 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 4.6% during the 4th 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 180.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 578,761 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,369,000 after purchasing an additional 372,629 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently 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.