Share Repurchase Plan Authorized by Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Board

Key Points

• Werner Enterprises' board has authorized a stock buyback plan, allowing the company to repurchase **5,000,000 shares** to signal confidence in its **undervalued stock**.
• The company reported **earnings of $0.11 per share**, exceeding analyst expectations, but experienced a **1% decrease** in year-over-year revenue for the quarter.
• Werner Enterprises will pay a **quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share** on October 22nd, representing an annualized yield of **2.2%**.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, August 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

WERN traded down $0.57 on Monday, reaching $26.03. The company had a trading volume of 860,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 964,572. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $23.02 and a 1 year high of $42.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.25.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $753.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $736.09 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 0.92%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.50.

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.

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