Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on WERN. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $40.83.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WERN opened at $36.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.02. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $47.27.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $769.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $788.30 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,268,348 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $96,110,000 after acquiring an additional 812,563 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,420,141 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $272,021,000 after purchasing an additional 565,193 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,973,767 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $168,369,000 after buying an additional 282,210 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 35.0% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 962,645 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,495,000 after buying an additional 249,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,302,000. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.