Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts collectively rate Werner Enterprises “Hold.” Of 16 firms, eight recommend holding, three rate it a sell, four a buy, and one a strong buy; the average 12-month price target is $41.54.
• Werner’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations, with EPS of $0.22 versus a $0.24 consensus and revenue of $813.36 million versus $931.12 million expected, despite 24% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, or $0.56 annualized, representing a 1.4% yield; institutional investors own approximately 89.3% of the stock.

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.5385.

WERN has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

NASDAQ WERN opened at $39.18 on Tuesday. 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 has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.55, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.00. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $23.06 and a 52-week high of $47.49.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.02). Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 1.42% and a positive return on equity of 1.18%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 5th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 5th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is presently -73.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 205,654 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,172,000 after purchasing an additional 30,812 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the 1st quarter valued at $1,119,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 284,197 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $8,358,000 after buying an additional 65,534 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,514,200 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $195,491,000 after buying an additional 90,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,860,000. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Werner Enterprises

Werner Enterprises, Inc, founded in 1956 by Clarence L. “Chris” Werner, is a leading transportation and logistics provider based in Omaha, Nebraska. The company began as a one‐truck operation and has since grown into one of North America's largest carriers, offering an array of services to support diverse supply chains.

Werner's core business activities include full truckload dry van services, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal transport and brokerage solutions. The company also provides value-added services such as warehousing, freight management and fleet maintenance through its network of terminals and service centers.

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