Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.14

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share by the transportation company on Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%.

Werner Enterprises has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.8% annually over the last three years. Werner Enterprises has a dividend payout ratio of 26.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Werner Enterprises to earn $2.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.2%.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WERN traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.16. 491,134 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 719,748. Werner Enterprises has a twelve month low of $33.12 and a twelve month high of $42.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.11 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.34.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna raised Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.29.

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.