Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after UBS Group downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating. The stock had previously closed at $34.86, but opened at $33.50. UBS Group now has a $39.00 price target on the stock. Werner Enterprises shares last traded at $34.12, with a volume of 85,327 shares trading hands.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (down from $36.00) on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.69.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 16,574 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 14,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 9,937 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,576 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 139.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 703 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $36.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.21.

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

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

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

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.