State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,278 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 18,216 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.08% of Werner Enterprises worth $1,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Jade Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at $2,118,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 34.9% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 327,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,829,000 after acquiring an additional 84,800 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 14.8% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 305,501 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,951,000 after acquiring an additional 39,445 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 1,048.4% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 91,312 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,572,000 after acquiring an additional 83,361 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter worth about $8,855,000. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WERN has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group cut Werner Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “negative” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.75.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ WERN opened at $37.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.12 and a 1-year high of $43.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 28.39, a P/E/G ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 0.79.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.03). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 4.70% and a net margin of 1.99%. The business had revenue of $760.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

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.