Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Short Interest Update

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,280,000 shares, a drop of 20.0% from the January 31st total of 4,100,000 shares. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 651,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 2,390.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 1,482 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 796.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,071 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Susquehanna raised Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.29.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 1.8 %

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $31.97 on Tuesday. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $31.87 and a 1 year high of $42.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.10. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.13 and a beta of 0.84.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.82%.

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.