Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock Price

Key Points

• Citigroup cut Werner Enterprises’ price target from $43 to $37 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying 14.76% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and average price target of $39.62; targets range from bullish calls at Morgan Stanley and Baird to bearish views.
• Werner shares fell 1.7% to $32.24 after the company missed quarterly estimates, reporting $0.22 in EPS versus $0.24 expected and revenue of $813.36 million versus $931.12 million forecast.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $43.00 to $37.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the transportation company's stock. Citigroup's price objective points to a potential upside of 14.76% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WERN. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Evercore raised shares of Werner Enterprises from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.62.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ WERN traded down $0.57 on Wednesday, reaching $32.24. 366,493 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,101,912. Werner Enterprises has a 12 month low of $23.06 and a 12 month high of $47.49. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $37.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.73. The company has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.47 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.02). Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 1.18% and a negative net margin of 1.42%.The company had revenue of $813.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WERN. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 17.7% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,405,606 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $453,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,170 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,637,086 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $115,003,000 after buying an additional 79,075 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,794,752 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $111,601,000 after buying an additional 148,826 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 3,055,017 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $89,848,000 after buying an additional 304,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 146.9% in the second quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,366,167 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $59,579,000 after acquiring an additional 812,800 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Werner Enterprises

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.

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