Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $39.00 to $46.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Werner Enterprises traded as high as $44.15 and last traded at $43.8950, with a volume of 159403 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.23.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on WERN. Zacks Research raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $36.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,514,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $195,491,000 after purchasing an additional 90,480 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 4.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,794,752 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $111,601,000 after purchasing an additional 148,826 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 5.7% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,058,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $80,511,000 after purchasing an additional 165,233 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 11.1% in the first quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 3,055,017 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $89,848,000 after acquiring an additional 304,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 605.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,510,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $75,336,000 after acquiring an additional 2,154,428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -291.51, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.05. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.28% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The firm had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $812.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. Werner Enterprises’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is -373.33%.

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.