Morgan Stanley Cuts Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target to $56.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $57.00 to $56.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Susquehanna reissued a negative rating and issued a $27.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $38.69.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN opened at $34.66 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.40 and its 200-day moving average is $38.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.90. Werner Enterprises has a 52 week low of $33.12 and a 52 week high of $47.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.80.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $769.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $788.30 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 6.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jade Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter worth $2,118,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,854,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $228,050,000 after buying an additional 48,380 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 305,501 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,951,000 after buying an additional 39,445 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1,048.4% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 91,312 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,572,000 after buying an additional 83,361 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 169,187 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,168,000 after acquiring an additional 44,159 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.