Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Begins Coverage on Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN)

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $33.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

WERN has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $32.20 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.94. Werner Enterprises has a 52 week low of $30.90 and a 52 week high of $42.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.55 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. On average, research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 2,390.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 271.1% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,776 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 3,489 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 2,079 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 53,136 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.8% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 362,786 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $14,000,000 after purchasing an additional 16,637 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.