Werner Enterprises Shares Up 5% As Q3 Profit Meets View, Revenues Top

(RTTNews) - Transportation and logistics company Werner Enterprises, Inc. (WERN) reported Monday a profit for the third quarter that increased 22 percent from last year, reflecting higher margins and revenue growth.

The company's shares were up nearly five percent in extended trading as earnings per share matched analysts' expectations, and quarterly revenues topped their estimates.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based company reported net income of $25.97 million or $0.36 per share for the third quarter, higher than $21.26 million, or $0.29 per share in the prior-year quarter.

On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.36 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter increased 8 percent to $551.96 million from $511.73 million in the same quarter last year, and topped fourteen Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $542.95 million.

Trucking revenues, excluding fuel surcharges, grew 4 percent to $334.52 million, and value added services revenues rose 10 percent to $106.49 million from last year.

Operating income for the quarter grew 28 percent to $41.69 million or 7.6 percent of revenues, from $32.58 million or 6.4 percent of revenues, in the prior-year quarter.

Average revenues per tractor per week, net of fuel surcharge, increased 7.4 percent, and average revenues per total mile, net of fuel surcharge, improved 2.0 percent from last year.

The company noted that the freight market dynamics began showing year-over-year improvement for Werner in mid-November 2013, and that favorable trend has continued for the last eleven months, including the first three weeks of October.

The company now estimates net capital expenditures for the full-year 2014 to be in the range of $210 million to $230 million.

WERN closed Monday's regular trading session at $24.85, up $0.31 or 1.24% on a volume of 0.42 million shares. The stock gained a further $1.15 or 4.61% in the after hours trading.