Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target Lowered to $24.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has lowered its price target for Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00, indicating a potential downside of 16.90% from the stock's previous close and maintaining an "underweight" rating.
• Several other research firms have also reduced their price targets, with Susquehanna setting a target of $23.00 and Stifel Nicolaus at $23.00, while the overall average rating for the stock stands at "Reduce" with a price target of $27.71.
• Werner Enterprises has announced a stock repurchase plan allowing the company to buy back 5,000,000 shares, which suggests that the company believes its shares are currently undervalued.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $29.00 to $24.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "underweight" rating on the transportation company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target would suggest a potential downside of 16.90% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on WERN. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $27.71.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of WERN traded up $1.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,460,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 884,506. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.78. Werner Enterprises has a one year low of $23.02 and a one year high of $42.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 33.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.06. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $753.15 million during 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, August 11th that permits the company to repurchase 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,813,038 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $199,622,000 after purchasing an additional 82,581 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,641,546 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $106,697,000 after purchasing an additional 173,572 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,893,705 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $79,172,000 after purchasing an additional 424,935 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,280,995 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $62,408,000 after purchasing an additional 110,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,965,037 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $56,023,000 after purchasing an additional 129,850 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.