Brokerages Set Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Price Target at $37.00

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.13.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $27.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Werner Enterprises in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WERN. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $485,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the third quarter worth $630,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 31.1% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 84,085 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,245,000 after acquiring an additional 19,944 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 19.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 98,550 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,803,000 after acquiring an additional 16,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the third quarter valued at $1,408,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

WERN stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 527,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 763,788. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 53.33 and a beta of 0.85. The company's 50 day moving average is $33.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.27. Werner Enterprises has a fifty-two week low of $28.77 and a fifty-two week high of $42.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. Equities research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.82%.

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.