Morgan Stanley Cuts Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target to $56.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $57.00 to $56.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on WERN. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued an underweight rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen cut 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. Susquehanna restated a negative rating and issued a $27.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $38.69.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ WERN opened at $34.66 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.21. Werner Enterprises has a 12 month low of $33.12 and a 12 month high of $47.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.80.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted 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 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Werner Enterprises’s revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 3rd quarter valued at about $318,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the third quarter valued at approximately $700,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 12.1% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 34,657 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after buying an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the third quarter worth approximately $233,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 840,846 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,751,000 after acquiring an additional 81,243 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

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.