Robert W. Baird Initiates Coverage on Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN)

Analysts at Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 14.53% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WERN. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.27.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of WERN opened at $29.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 100.86, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $23.02 and a 1 year high of $42.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $712.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $738.41 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 1.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WERN. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 163.5% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 959 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 69.7% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,176 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 796.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 15.9% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.