Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Cut to Sell (D+) at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings cut shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a hold (c-) rating to a sell (d+) rating in a report published on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WERN. Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.71.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 6.1%

Shares of NASDAQ WERN opened at $26.53 on Wednesday. Werner Enterprises has a 12-month low of $23.02 and a 12-month high of $42.48. The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.75.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 0.92% and a net margin of 1.77%.The firm had revenue of $753.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $736.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, August 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 25.4% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 40,096 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 8,134 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 59.5% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 179,372 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,908,000 after acquiring an additional 66,927 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 31.8% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 12,758 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 3,079 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 7.4% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 210,659 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,764,000 after acquiring an additional 14,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter worth about $240,000. Institutional investors 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.