Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target Raised to $34.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price raised by Citigroup from $27.00 to $34.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $28.71.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 0.7%

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $33.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $28.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.07. Werner Enterprises has a fifty-two week low of $23.02 and a fifty-two week high of $38.60.

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

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 5th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 136.59%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the second quarter valued at about $12,972,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 17.2% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,893,705 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $79,172,000 after acquiring an additional 424,935 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 222.8% during 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 period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 49.1% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 704,775 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,283,000 after acquiring an additional 232,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,227,000. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

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.