Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

WERN has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Susquehanna upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of WERN opened at $29.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.56. 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 has a one year low of $29.17 and a one year high of $42.48. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.35 and a beta of 0.85.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted 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%. Research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 796.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 1,513 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,071 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is 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.