Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $38.50 and last traded at $38.3890, with a volume of 322559 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WERN. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $35.15.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 0.4%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 266.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.24.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.05. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.66% and a negative net margin of 0.28%.The company had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -373.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,418 shares of Werner Enterprises stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $49,318.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,945,801.88. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WERN. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 289.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,542 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,429 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 86.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,614 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Werner Enterprises

Werner Enterprises, Inc, founded in 1956 by Clarence L. “Chris” Werner, is a leading transportation and logistics provider based in Omaha, Nebraska. The company began as a one‐truck operation and has since grown into one of North America’s largest carriers, offering an array of services to support diverse supply chains.

Werner’s core business activities include full truckload dry van services, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal transport and brokerage solutions. The company also provides value-added services such as warehousing, freight management and fleet maintenance through its network of terminals and service centers.