Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $40.08.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ WERN opened at $35.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.90. Werner Enterprises has a 52 week low of $33.12 and a 52 week high of $47.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.93.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.14). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The firm had revenue of $769.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $788.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 139.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 703 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the third quarter valued at $36,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 46.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,402 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently 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.