Aigen Investment Management LP Purchases New Shares in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises, acquiring 13,154 shares valued at approximately $385,000 during the first quarter.
• Werner Enterprises' stock was recently upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group from "sell" to "buy," increasing the target price from $25.00 to $39.00, while the consensus rating remains "Hold" at a target price of $30.50.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14, with a yield of 2.0%, and authorized a stock buyback plan allowing for the repurchase of 5,000,000 outstanding shares.

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 13,154 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WERN. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 13,717 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 145.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 210,389 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,557,000 after purchasing an additional 124,574 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 73,560 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,642,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 40,375 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 8,641 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,029 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ WERN traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.01. 917,858 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,036,238. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $28.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.10. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a one year low of $23.02 and a one year high of $42.48. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.08.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $753.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $736.09 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 0.92%. Werner Enterprises's revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, August 11th that allows the company to buyback 5,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 6th. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WERN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.50.

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.