Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Bank of America from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price suggests a potential downside of 18.62% from the company’s current price.

WERN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Stephens upgraded Werner Enterprises to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Evercore raised shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.62.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

WERN stock traded down $1.58 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $44.24. The company had a trading volume of 676,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,133,380. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -294.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.14. Werner Enterprises has a 1-year low of $23.06 and a 1-year high of $47.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.50 million. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.28% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WERN. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 605.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,510,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $75,336,000 after buying an additional 2,154,428 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1,361.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,921,152 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $56,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789,653 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 539.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,670,737 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,409,556 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,201,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 572.4% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,297,054 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

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.