Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Trading Up 5.2% – Still a Buy?

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) rose 5.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $34.90 and last traded at $34.7320. Approximately 367,495 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 1,008,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $30.57.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.85, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $30.16 and its 200-day moving average is $28.38.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.18). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 0.85% and a return on equity of 0.14%. The firm had revenue of $712.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 5th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 5th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is 136.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,660 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 5,473 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 36,697 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 126,854 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,717,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 413.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 306.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,294 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 976 shares in 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.