Werner Enterprises, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.14 (NASDAQ:WERN)

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 22nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share by the transportation company on Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th.

Werner Enterprises has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 4 years. Werner Enterprises has a payout ratio of 42.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Werner Enterprises to earn $2.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.2%.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $25.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.84 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.84 and its 200 day moving average is $33.41. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $23.02 and a 1 year high of $42.48. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $712.11 million for 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%. Werner Enterprises’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 126,854 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,717,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 36,697 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after buying an additional 1,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,660 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 5,473 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WERN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.69.

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.