Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock Price

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $38.00 to $35.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on WERN. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “negative” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.50.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

NASDAQ:WERN opened at $37.30 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.10 and a 200-day moving average of $36.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68, a PEG ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.79. Werner Enterprises has a 52 week low of $33.12 and a 52 week high of $43.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.69.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $765.24 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 4.70% and a net margin of 1.99%. Werner Enterprises’s revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 390.1% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 740 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 145.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

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.