Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,730,457 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,228 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.89% of Werner Enterprises worth $241,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WERN. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,987,187 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,380,000 after buying an additional 234,811 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,660,846 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after acquiring an additional 143,953 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,791,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 672.8% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 75,632 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,717,000 after purchasing an additional 65,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 12.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 435,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,804,000 after purchasing an additional 49,568 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com lowered Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.73.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ WERN opened at $27.90 on Friday. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.55 and a 1 year high of $42.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 50.73 and a beta of 0.85. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $32.40 and its 200 day moving average is $35.93.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 101.82%.

Werner Enterprises 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.