Bank of America Trims Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Target Price to $34.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its price target decreased by Bank of America from $35.00 to $34.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the transportation company’s stock.

WERN has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays lowered shares of Werner Enterprises from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Werner Enterprises from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $44.25.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $35.39 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.36. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $34.67 and a 1 year high of $47.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.05). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 3.42%. The business had revenue of $821.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $820.90 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 31.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the first quarter worth $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 139.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 703 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 135.2% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 821 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.