Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target to $23.00

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its price target reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $25.00 to $23.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $29.93.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 3.6%

NASDAQ WERN opened at $27.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.92, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.06. Werner Enterprises has a one year low of $23.02 and a one year high of $42.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $27.75 and its 200-day moving average is $27.78.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $753.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $736.09 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 0.92% and a net margin of 1.77%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 6th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.12%.

Werner Enterprises announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, August 11th that permits the company to repurchase 5,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 308,067 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,026,000 after buying an additional 8,080 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 164.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,066 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 6,879 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 15.9% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the first quarter worth approximately $686,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the first quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Hedge funds and other 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.