Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts also recently commented on WERN. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their target price on Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Werner Enterprises from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.69.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $26.20 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $28.55 and its 200 day moving average is $34.10. 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 $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $738.41 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 2.27%. The business’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 193.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 21.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 853,258 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,000,000 after buying an additional 149,087 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $199,622,000 after purchasing an additional 82,581 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 389.0% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,584 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 7,624 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1,687.6% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 26,158 shares during the last quarter. 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.