Analysts Set Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Target Price at $30.57

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.5714.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Werner Enterprises from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Werner Enterprises from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,201,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter worth $12,972,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 17.2% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,893,705 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $79,172,000 after acquiring an additional 424,935 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 222.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 339,589 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,938,000 after acquiring an additional 234,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 49.1% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 704,775 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,283,000 after purchasing an additional 232,149 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of WERN opened at $33.93 on Monday. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $23.02 and a 1 year high of $38.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 82.76, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.07.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.18). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 0.14% and a net margin of 0.85%.The firm had revenue of $712.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 5th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 5th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 136.59%.

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.