Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $29.00 to $31.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the transportation company's stock. Citigroup's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 5.55% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on WERN. Bank of America boosted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective 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. Evercore ISI lowered Werner Enterprises from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.40.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

WERN stock traded down $0.61 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.37. The company had a trading volume of 566,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,474. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.07. Werner Enterprises has a fifty-two week low of $23.02 and a fifty-two week high of $42.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $712.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $738.41 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 1.20%. Werner Enterprises's quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 704,171 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $25,294,000 after acquiring an additional 23,498 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,479 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,937 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter worth about $2,791,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 672.8% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 75,632 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,717,000 after acquiring an additional 65,845 shares in the last quarter. 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.