Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target Raised to $36.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its price target lifted by Bank of America from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the transportation company’s stock.

WERN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.62.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WERN opened at $42.42 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.27. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of -282.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.26. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $23.06 and a 52-week high of $47.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $730.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $812.50 million. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.28% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently -373.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 30,464 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $914,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.3% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 64,228 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 57,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by 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.