Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) gapped down before the market opened on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $32.81, but opened at $31.51. Werner Enterprises shares last traded at $32.6150, with a volume of 71,756 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WERN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stephens upgraded Werner Enterprises to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.77.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 2.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.92 and a beta of 1.29.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $813.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.12 million. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 1.42% and a positive return on equity of 1.18%. Werner Enterprises’s revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Monday, October 5th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 5th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently -73.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 185.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at about $232,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 24.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,054 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after buying an additional 7,824 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 3.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,637,086 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $115,003,000 after acquiring an additional 79,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 11.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 29,726 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 3,032 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

Werner Enterprises, Inc is a transportation and logistics company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1956 by C.L. Werner, the company provides freight transportation and supply chain services to customers across North America.

The company’s operations include truckload transportation, dedicated transportation, and logistics services. Its truckload business transports general commodities through one-way and dedicated fleets, while its logistics operations arrange transportation using a network of carriers and other service providers.