Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 299,987 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 8,385 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.49% of Werner Enterprises worth $10,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 53,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,922,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 413,186 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $14,842,000 after buying an additional 43,528 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 51,065 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,834,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,660,846 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $59,010,000 after buying an additional 143,953 shares during the period. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 14,107 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $32.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.20 and a beta of 0.84. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.05 and a twelve month high of $42.48.

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

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 101.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays cut their price target 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. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.29.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

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.