Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore increased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $33.15.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ WERN opened at $30.80 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.60 and its 200-day moving average is $29.66. Werner Enterprises has a 12-month low of $23.02 and a 12-month high of $38.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -128.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.06.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.04). Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.04% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.The business had revenue of $737.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.51 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -233.33%.

Insider Transactions at Werner Enterprises

In related news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,418 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $49,318.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,945,801.88. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 605.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,510,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $75,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154,428 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 539.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,670,737 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,556 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,201,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 572.4% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,297,054 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,813,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

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.