Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Rating Increased to Neutral at Susquehanna

Susquehanna upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a negative rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $38.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

WERN has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.29.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of WERN stock opened at $36.75 on Friday. Werner Enterprises has a 52 week low of $33.12 and a 52 week high of $42.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 50.34, a PEG ratio of 33.43 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.66 and its 200-day moving average is $37.51.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.06). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. The company had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $765.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 76.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the third quarter worth about $485,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 362,786 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $14,000,000 after purchasing an additional 16,637 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 84,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,245,000 after buying an additional 19,944 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 98,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,803,000 after buying an additional 16,280 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.