Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 25,746 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 378,381 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,746 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.61% of Werner Enterprises worth $13,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WERN. Nuance Investments LLC grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 30.0% during the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,948,542 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $115,347,000 after purchasing an additional 680,194 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,420,141 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $272,021,000 after purchasing an additional 565,193 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter valued at $8,855,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 15.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,506,663 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,984,000 after purchasing an additional 201,843 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 34.9% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 327,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $12,829,000 after purchasing an additional 84,800 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WERN shares. UBS Group downgraded Werner Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “negative” rating on the stock in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.75.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ WERN opened at $37.47 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.91. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.12 and a twelve month high of $43.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a PEG ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th will be given 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 1.49%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 42.75%.

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.