Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Werner Enterprises experienced a significant stock price drop after being downgraded by TD Cowen from a buy to a hold rating, with a new price target set at $24.00.
• Multiple analysts have adjusted their price targets for Werner Enterprises, with Bank of America and Wells Fargo lowering theirs considerably to $26.00 and $22.00, respectively, indicating a negative outlook.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14, representing an annualized yield of 1.9%, and also authorized a stock buyback plan for 5 million shares, which suggests leadership views the stock as undervalued.

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after TD Cowen downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $27.76, but opened at $26.60. TD Cowen now has a $24.00 price target on the stock. Werner Enterprises shares last traded at $28.36, with a volume of 99,954 shares.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $28.43.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1,119.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,511 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 11,485 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 164.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,066 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 6,879 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 1st quarter valued at $686,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 22,516 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 33,848 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $992,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 6th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.12%.

Werner Enterprises announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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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