Brokerages Set Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) PT at $34.71

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.71.

WERN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,660,846 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after purchasing an additional 143,953 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,730,457 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $241,758,000 after buying an additional 32,228 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 12.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 435,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,804,000 after buying an additional 49,568 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,479 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 85,815 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,312,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WERN opened at $28.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 51.09 and a beta of 1.06. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $26.50 and a 1 year high of $42.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently 101.82%.

About Werner Enterprises

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.