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

Key Points

• Werner Enterprises, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from fifteen ratings firms, with six analysts recommending a sell, six suggesting a hold, and three advising a buy.
• The company's quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share will be paid on October 22nd, reflecting a 2.0% yield and a payout ratio of 65.12%.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "sell" to a "buy" rating, significantly increasing the price target from $25.00 to $39.00.

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.4286.

Several research firms have recently commented on WERN. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $25.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 1.1%

WERN stock opened at $28.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.09. Werner Enterprises has a 52 week low of $23.02 and a 52 week high of $42.48. The company's 50-day moving average price is $28.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.12%.

Werner Enterprises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, August 11th that permits the company 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 typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,813,038 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $199,622,000 after purchasing an additional 82,581 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 5.0% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,641,546 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $106,697,000 after purchasing an additional 173,572 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 17.2% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,893,705 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $79,172,000 after purchasing an additional 424,935 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 5.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,280,995 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $62,408,000 after purchasing an additional 110,468 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 7.1% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,965,037 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $56,023,000 after purchasing an additional 129,850 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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