Stephens Cuts Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target to $40.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its price objective cut by Stephens from $42.00 to $40.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

WERN has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $40.83.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of WERN opened at $36.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.82. Werner Enterprises has a twelve month low of $33.12 and a twelve month high of $47.27.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.14). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 2.59%. The company had revenue of $769.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $788.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,420,141 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $272,021,000 after buying an additional 565,193 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,973,767 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $168,369,000 after buying an additional 282,210 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,811,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $161,484,000 after buying an additional 33,906 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,268,348 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $96,110,000 after acquiring an additional 812,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 3.5% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,421,798 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $55,621,000 after acquiring an additional 48,340 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.