Citi Has Buy on Werner Enterprises

Citi Investment Research is out with a research report on Werner Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN) and it has a Buy rating and a $25 price target on shares.

In a note to clients, Citi Investment Research writes, "Werner reported 3Q EPS of $0.40, in line with Citi and consensus estimates, as weaker top-line Trucking growth, up <1% YOY to $331 million and $20 million below our estimate, was offset by lower operating expenses, primarily Salaries, Wages & Benefits, which was $9 million below our estimates, as well as Other and Fuel which were each $3 million below our estimates. While we were encouraged by the solid core yields at Truck, up +3.7% versus our +3.4% target, we attribute the top-line miss to lower total miles, -2.2% YOY versus our +3.4% target, as demand weakness during the first half of the quarter and the tight driver market impacted results. We also note that operating expenses were aided by a $6.0 million (2c relative to our target) gain on asset sales, as Werner took advantage of the strong used truck market."

Shares of WERN gained 78 cents yesterday to close at $23.35.