Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $45.67 and last traded at $45.5430, with a volume of 51283 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $43.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WERN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Evercore raised Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Stephens raised shares of Werner Enterprises to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.85.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 0.1%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.73 and a 200-day moving average of $35.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The company has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -306.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.05. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.66% and a negative net margin of 0.28%.The business had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is -373.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in 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 valued at $75,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154,428 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1,361.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,921,152 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $56,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789,653 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 539.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,670,737 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,556 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,201,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 572.4% during the 4th 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. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Werner Enterprises

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.