Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Upgraded at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $34.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WERN. TD Cowen increased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird raised Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $33.15.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $29.60 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -123.33, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.71. Werner Enterprises has a 52 week low of $23.02 and a 52 week high of $38.45.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.04). Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.48% and a positive return on equity of 0.04%. The business had revenue of $737.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -233.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,418 shares of Werner Enterprises stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $49,318.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 55,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,945,801.88. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WERN. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 289.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 961 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 42.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,542 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,429 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.