AlphaQuest LLC Increases Stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC increased its ownership in Werner Enterprises, Inc. by 94.6%, acquiring an additional 24,302 shares, bringing its total stake to approximately 49,996 shares valued at $1.47 million.
• Werner Enterprises has announced a stock repurchase program allowing the purchase of up to 5 million shares, indicating the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, which will be paid on October 22, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 94.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,996 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 24,302 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC owned about 0.08% of Werner Enterprises worth $1,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 308,067 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $9,026,000 after buying an additional 8,080 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 164.3% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,066 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 6,879 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 1st quarter valued at $686,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 1st quarter valued at $265,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $28.33. 166,787 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 896,427. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $28.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.72. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.08. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.02 and a fifty-two week 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 0.92% and a net margin of 1.77%.The company had revenue of $753.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $736.09 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. Werner Enterprises's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

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

Werner Enterprises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, August 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 5,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WERN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $25.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Baird R W raised shares of Werner Enterprises to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $30.50.

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.