Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) hit a new 52-week high on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $39.00 to $46.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Werner Enterprises traded as high as $44.15 and last traded at $43.8950, with a volume of 159403 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.23.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $36.17.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WERN. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 33.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,660 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $635,000 after buying an additional 5,473 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 36,697 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after buying an additional 1,598 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 126,854 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,717,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 24.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 76,767 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,100,000 after purchasing an additional 15,109 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 159.6% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 226,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,186,000 after purchasing an additional 138,995 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.1%

The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -291.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $730.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $812.50 million. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.28% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 6th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently -373.33%.

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.