Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Grows Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments has increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 7.1%, totaling approximately $56 million and owning about 3.18% of the company as of the last SEC filing.
• Analyst ratings for Werner Enterprises show mixed opinions, with two "Buy," seven "Hold," and seven "Sell" ratings, reflecting a consensus average rating of "Reduce" and a target price of $27.57.
• Werner Enterprises has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share and initiated a stock buyback program allowing the purchase of 5 million shares, indicating investor confidence in the stock's value.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,965,037 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 129,850 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 3.18% of Werner Enterprises worth $56,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WERN. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1,642.2% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 620,855 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $18,191,000 after buying an additional 585,218 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the first quarter worth $9,102,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 1st quarter valued at about $6,227,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 182.3% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 327,057 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $9,583,000 after purchasing an additional 211,215 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,170,527 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $63,596,000 after purchasing an additional 183,340 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WERN. TD Cowen lowered shares of Werner Enterprises from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Baird R W raised shares of Werner Enterprises to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $27.57.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of WERN stock opened at $26.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.69. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.02 and a 1-year high of $42.48.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $753.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 6th. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.12%.

Werner Enterprises announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, August 11th that allows the company to buyback 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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