Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $32.31 and last traded at $32.48, with a volume of 744178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WERN. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Susquehanna raised Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.29.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.45 and a 200 day moving average of $37.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.20 and a beta of 0.84.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.82%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,168 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 20,216 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 53,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,761 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.