Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $37.43, but opened at $36.53. Werner Enterprises shares last traded at $36.49, with a volume of 123,513 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WERN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.14.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 2.4 %

The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.04, a PEG ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.50.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.06). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.48% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The company had revenue of $745.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $765.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Werner Enterprises’s revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.71%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 145.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 85,815 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,312,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,071 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 9,820 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

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.