Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target Raised to $37.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $37.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

WERN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $26.71.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN opened at $29.91 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.95, a P/E/G ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.08. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $23.02 and a 52-week high of $40.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.38.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $712.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.63 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 0.85% and a return on equity of 0.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 5th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 136.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,813,038 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $199,622,000 after acquiring an additional 82,581 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,791,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $99,782,000 after purchasing an additional 24,204 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 5.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 5.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,404,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $63,287,000 after buying an additional 123,513 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 7.1% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,965,037 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $56,023,000 after buying an additional 129,850 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

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.